


Fallen

by Qille



Series: The Vengeance Series [5]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Amputation, Blood, Gen, Gore, Infection, Mutilation, Swearing, Torture, Yoglabs, lots and lots of blood, millions dead, this has a lot of blood and stuff, vivid descriptions of smells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-04-30 22:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5182595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qille/pseuds/Qille
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Nether was sealed, nobody was sure if they were still alive. But Lalna and Rythian are hard to get rid of. Now, trapped in the Nether, they must work together to escape without being killed by monsters or each other, while their friends fight a dangerous force that has been festering in YogLabs. Not everybody will make it through this adventure intact. </p><p>Takes place immediately after the events of Stolen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost Cause

Three days.

It had been three days since they had escaped. Three days since the portals to the Nether had been sealed.

Three days since they lost Lalna and Rythian.

Next to nobody had the heart to rebuild their old homes, which had been destroyed by the Bedrock Zombies. Everybody who wasn't mortally wounded helped build a large shelter near the ruins of the Jaffa factory, which was serving as a shelter and a medical facility for everyone.

The only structure that was still intact was Lalna's castle, but it was still sealed. No one – not even Honeydew or Ridge – could get through the force field.

Out of everyone that had been captured, Ridge was the one that had suffered the most, especially because he had been kidnapped a month before any of the others. He was completely drained of his powers, only barely strong enough to fly. It would be a long time before he regained full strength. After all, saving Xephos and trapping Israphel had drained whatever power he had regained. Nano would try and help him by attempting to transfer some of her power, but she was still too young and inexperienced to know how to do it properly, and every time she tried, it would render one of them unconscious.

It had been difficult to keep Xephos in a bed for those three days. He kept wanting to go check on his friends, but he was still healing, as proved by the thin bandage wrapped securely around his throat. Not only did he have to recover from having his throat slashed, but he had to recover from all the wounds he had sustained from being tortured. Both physical and mental.

Every night he woke up in a cold sweat, on the verge of screaming. Honeydew and Lomadia were always there to calm him down though. His fear of the dark was much worse now, and he slept with an unused torch under his pillow.

For Lomadia, it took everything she had to keep a calm exterior. On the inside, she was terrified. She was afraid that Xephos wouldn't recover. She was afraid that Nilesy wouldn't wake up from the coma he had slipped into. And most of all, she was terrified that Lalna was dead. That he had been killed by the bomb or any of the horrible creatures of the Nether.

This was the thought that plagued everyone's minds. Had Lalna and Rythian survived? Were they alive and uninjured? Or were they dying in agony? And the most prominent question was how they would get back to the Nether to save them when the portals no longer worked.

This was the issue that Xephos, Honeydew, Ridge, Lomadia, Zoeya, and Nano were discussing in a private room.

“What options do we have?” asked Xephos, his voice hoarse from his still healing vocal cords. “We can't use portals anymore, so what are we going to do?”

“Look,” said Ridge, leaning back in his chair and absently running his fingers along the fresh wound on the back of his head, “we simply don't have the equipment ready to build a new portal. Everything is destroyed, and the only place that might have something is Lalna's castle, which, as I'm sure you know, is sealed.”

Lomadia groaned. “There has to be some other way,” she exclaimed. “Ridge, can't you use magic or something?”

“First of all,” said Ridge, “it isn't physically possible to teleport into a different dimension without some serious issues.”

“Lalna teleported me and Xeph out of the Nether one time,” said Honeydew.

“In a glitchy world where the fabric of reality was twisted, and it almost killed him,” added Xephos, rolling his eyes.

“It wasn't _that_ bad, was it?”

“He was bleeding out of his eyes.”

“Also,” continued Ridge, “I wouldn't be able to open a portal to the Nether without causing some major volcanic activity. Any type of universal inter-spatial disturbances up here can cause some crazy tectonic activity down there. Not only that, but it would let a shit ton of flux escape from the Void and cause mayhem. 

“Finally, I'm barely strong enough to fly. Do you really think I have the energy to rip open the fabric of the universe and get back to the Nether? No. We need science for this.”

“Could we at least try and communicate with them first?” asked Zoeya, her voice shaky due to the fact that she had been sick for the past three days from the stress of not knowing if Rythian was alive.

“How would we communicate with them?” asked Nano, tilting her head to the side.

“We could use the Ender Eye trick,” suggested Zoeya. She gestured to the cauldron in the corner of the room. “If you can get that water boiling, I'll go try and find an Ender Eye.” Then she stood on shaky legs and dashed out of the room with surprising speed for someone who had been throwing up all morning.

Honeydew managed to make a fire under the cauldron that was hot enough to get it boiling by the time Zoeya came back.

Stepping up to the cauldron, Zoeya whispered a few words in a different language. The Eye in her hand started to glow purple and emit particles. Then she tossed it into the cauldron.

There was a sharp crack and a puff of smoke. The smoke hovered in the air above the cauldron, and slowly, an image appeared in the center.

Suddenly, the image sharpened, and a dirty and bloody yet still very alive Rythian appeared.

He laughed and shook his head a bit. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear from you guys.”

Zoeya let out a breathy laugh and shook her head. “Thank gods you're alive...” she whispered. Rythian smiled tiredly at her.

Nano stepped up beside Zoeya. “Is Lalna with you?” she asked, doing her best not to sound too nervous.

Rythian glanced to the left, and a moment later, Lalna fell into view. He appeared to be dizzy, because he slammed into Rythian and then held onto his shoulder for balance.

“Hey guys!” exclaimed Lalna happily. He too was bloody and dirty, and they could see that his arm was still in a sling, but at least he was alive, even though he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked incredibly pale and a bit sick. Not to mention how he was still holding onto Rythian to keep from falling over.

“Are you guys okay?” asked Xephos, coming closer.

“I'm fine,” said Rythian. He glanced over at Lalna, who looked ready to fall asleep at any second. “He, on the other hand, has a bit of a fever and he's sleep deprived, so he's a bit delirious.”

“What happened?” asked Lomadia.

“Something with his arm,” said Rythian, glancing at Lalna, who was doing his best to avoid eye contact.

“Just stay safe for a while longer,” said Xephos. “We're trying to figure out a way to get back.”

“I would suggest you hurry it up,” said Lalna. “We've only been wandering around out here for a day and I'm already sick of it.”

“Wait a second, a day?” exclaimed Xephos. “It's been three days here!”

“Time... time passes differently in the Nether,” said Lalna, struggling to stay focused.

“Wibbly wobbly timey wimey,” muttered Honeydew.

Suddenly, the cloud of smoke started to disappear. They were losing the connection.

“Hurry up and find us!” exclaimed Lalna.

“See you guys soon,” added Rythian. Then the smoke disappeared and they lost the connection.

“Well,” said Honeydew, “at least we know they're alive. And... somewhat well...”

Zoeya nodded. “We just have to find them before they end up actually hurting themselves... or each other...”

“Then in that case we should hurry,” smirked Ridge.

“I think we all know what our last option is...” said Xephos, his voice suddenly becoming grave.

“We have to go to YogLabs.”

**XXX**

Lalna and Rythian had taken refuge in a cave when they heard the Ghasts begin to circle. Lalna had become delirious an hour after they found the cave. It was from the fever from his body trying to heal his hand and arm.

When Rythian asked how his hand had gotten so badly injured, Lalna explained that the torturers had broken the bones multiple times and left him to heal. The bones had healed improperly, which was why he had a difficult time moving his hand. Not only that, but they had put a small faucet in the ceiling of his containment tube that would slowly drip water on him. It didn't bother him at first, but after he lost his amulet, it had started to burn and melt away his skin. He had shielded himself with his hand, which was why there were so many cuts and long deep wounds on the back and palm of his hand.

When they tried to sleep, the pain in Lalna's arm kept him awake. By the time Rythian woke up several hours later, Lalna was more delirious than before, and he looked exhausted.

Just as they started getting ready to move on and locate a good place to make camp, the Eye of Ender around Rythian's neck – the one Israphel had taken from him and he had found again while they were scavenging for supplies – started to glow purple. He held it in the palm of his hand, and the cloud of smoke appeared above it.

It had been a relief seeing the others. Rythian was especially happy to see Zoeya.

After they lost connection, they simply sat there for a few minutes.

“At least they're recovering,” muttered Lalna, absently picking at a loose thread on his lab coat.

Rythian nodded. “Do you think they'll find a way to get us out of here?”

Lalna was quiet for a long time. Finally, he spoke. “I don't see why not...”

Rythian nodded and stood up. “Okay,” he said, “we should get going. I don't like how close those Ghasts sound.”

Lalna nodded and painfully pulled himself to his feet. He was still dizzy from the fever, pain, and lack of sleep, but at least the delirium had cleared away for the time.

Cautiously, they left the cave and traveled along the large lava lake, away from the crumbling fortress.

Every so often, Rythian would put down a block of cobblestone and put a torch on it. Finally, Lalna's curiosity got the better of him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice somewhat of a monotone.

“I'm leaving a path,” said Rythian. “They need a trail to follow when they get here, right?”

Lalna didn't speak his thoughts. He simply shrugged.

He knew there was no hope for them. There was no other way of getting back in the Nether, or out of it for that matter.

He knew it wouldn't matter if they left a trail or not.

They were never going to be rescued.


	2. An Eye for an Eye

Xephos and Honeydew walked along the gloomy, winding path along the enormous mountain that housed the main YogLabs buildings. They were silent, and they were alone.

Ridge had offered to come with them in case there was trouble – there was always trouble at the Labs – but Xephos didn't think it would be a good idea. Many of the staff were still petrified of him, but the ones that weren't would be able to tell that he was weakened, and he wouldn't be able to help if there was a fight or outbreak of some sort.

Honeydew was busy thinking about something Ridge had said to him.

After they made the decision to go to the Labs, Ridge had pulled him aside.

“Do you remember when I brought Xephos back to life?” he had asked. “I used my own blood to save him. I don't know what this will do to him, so keep a close eye on him.”

“What do you mean you don't know what it will do to him?” exclaimed Honeydew. “What could happen?”

“Just... be on the lookout for strange things,” Ridge had warned. “He might start spawning in things more frequently or accidentally. He might get angrier easier. He might accidentally destroy something.”

Honeydew's eye had twitched. “Anything else?” he exclaimed, freaking out a bit.

Ridge thought for a moment. “Well... he could possibly gain the ability to fly...”

Honeydew stared blankly at him. “So what you're saying is he may turn into you?”

“Not exactly, but kinda, yeah...”

Honeydew had gotten out of that conversation as quickly as possible. Ridge had used the term “demigod” a lot though.

That also got Honeydew thinking about what Israphel had said. That Xephos had evil blood inside of him. Was that true? He had also said the same thing about Lalna. Had Ridge saved Lalna in the same way he saved Xephos? Was that so called evil blood the reason Lalna had to deal with Livid for so long? What would it do to Xephos?

He shook his head a bit. It was all so confusing, but either way, he knew his friends weren't evil... right?

They arrived at the enormous door to the Labs. The door was already open, so they ran up the stairs. Honeydew put down some blocks so Xephos wouldn't have to jump the gap.

They ran into the Labs at full speed, not bothering to even glance at the testificates behind the desk.

Xephos led the way down to the restricted area labeled Department of Transdimentional Teleportation and Exploration. He burst through the doors and into the laboratories and experimental testing rooms. All of the scientists in the room turned and looked up as the two ran in.

Xephos took a moment to catch his breath – which was increasingly difficult due to his asthma and his healing throat, which was no longer bandaged but still had a visible scar – before standing tall and looking around.

“Who's in charge of this department?” he asked, his voice stern.

“That would be me,” said a voice from the back of the room. The owner of the voice stepped forward, and Honeydew and Xephos were shocked to see Professor Brightmeer.

“What are you doing down here, Brightmeer?” asked Xephos. “I thought you were in charge of the chemical and medical development research.”

“I am,” said Brightmeer, “but now that Professor Bixby is retired, there was no one left to take his position.”

Xephos and Honeydew glanced at each other. Neither of them had ever really liked the guy. He had been doing experiments down in the depths of the Lab that violated almost every rule of the Labs _and_ human rights, he was the one who had suggested using Chemical X to weaponize mobs even further, and worst of all, he was Lalna's uncle.

He was also the reason Lalna had been fired.

Frowning, Xephos shook his head a bit. “Look, we need a way to get to the Nether,” he carefully said.

Brightmeer tilted his head to the side, causing the half of his face covered in mechanical prosthetics to glint in the bright laboratory light. “Why can't you just use a portal...?” he asked calmly, even though his voice carried something hidden – something menacing and ominous.

Honeydew groaned loudly. “We can't! Now look, I don't care if it's a portal, a toilet, or a fucking TARDIS! Just get us a way to get back to the Nether!”

“The portals won't work anymore,” elaborated Xephos.

Brightmeer narrowed his eye. “You do realize I'll need some additional information before I can condone an experiment like this, Sir.” The way he spat out the word “sir” reminded Honeydew of a snake spitting venom.

Xephos glared. He was tempted to fire him on the spot for asking too many questions – he'd wanted to fire him for a while now, but he figured it would be safer for everyone if they kept a close eye on him. However, Brightmeer had the technology and knowledge that they needed. Unfortunately.

“Why do you need to get to the Nether so desperately?” asked Brightmeer suspiciously. He was eying the fresh scar on Xephos' neck, which was still painfully visible.

Xephos gulped, but he didn't let the fear show on his face. He replaced it with rage.

“We were in the Nether, and there was an accident. All of the portals are sealed, and two of our friends are still trapped there. One of them is hurt, so we need to get back and rescue them as soon as possible,” Xephos reluctantly explained.

Brightmeer again tilted his head. “I'm curious,” he said. “Why didn't you go ask my psychotic nephew for help first? I'm sure he's got a portal gun of some sort that could be useful.”

Xephos didn't answer. This was all Brightmeer needed.

“Oh, so he's one of your friends that's trapped in the Nether? Interesting...”

Xephos snarled. “Look, I shouldn't have to be answering your questions!” he exclaimed. “I'm your boss! You work for me, and my word is final! Now no more question asked. Build a portal to the Nether or so help me I'll find a way to teleport half of your body beneath bedrock and leave the other half here to feed the experiments! Now. Get. To. _WORK!_ ”

If Honeydew hadn't been so shocked by Xephos' outburst, he would have noticed the scientists slowly closing in on them from all sides. These scientists looked like they had been sampling the experimental medicines and steroids.

Professor Brightmeer smiled menacingly. “Of course,” he said. “We'll get started on it right away. Right after we finish a bit of... pest control...”

Suddenly, he stepped back, and all the scientists surrounding them closed in. Half of them grabbed Honeydew and pulled him off to the side of the room. The other half grabbed Xephos and forced him to his knees, holding his arms behind his back.

Brightmeer chuckled, strolling forward. “Oh, we intend to make a portal. Just don't expect your friends to come out of it alive. You see, many of the scientists here are part of a special group. We specialize in killing any abominations we come across. And while you may have tried to brainwash me, I remember. I remember exactly what my nephew is, and I intend to kill him. And you. And Honeydew. And anybody else that gets in our way.”

Xephos struggled with the scientists holding him down. “You traitor!” he spat at him. “You're a monster!”

“No,” said Brightmeer, “we're here to kill the monsters and save the people who deserve it. And you, Xephos, are a monster. You're as much of a monster as my nephew; you just don't show it on the surface. Go ahead. Tell Honeydew how many workers you've had killed here. How many inhumane experiments you've had preformed. All in the name of _science_...”

Xephos glared at him before slowly casting a regretful glance at Honeydew, who only shook his head a bit. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Brightmeer smirked. “We also have the power to bring people back from the grave. We can even rescue someone who was... say... trapped in the Void. I think there's someone trapped in the Void right now who would gladly accept you two as a sacrifice.”

Xephos snarled and started screaming and cursing, but Brightmeer whipped around and slugged him in the jaw. The force of the impact – which was incredibly surprising for someone of his age – would have sent him sprawling if not for the enormously muscled scientists holding him down.

Brightmeer chuckled menacingly. “You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.”

Xephos spat blood. He turned and glared menacingly at Brightmeer. “You're a cultist!” he snarled.

Brightmeer bowed mockingly. “A cultists of Israphel, at your service.” Then he violently kneed Xephos in the chest.

“Stop it!” screamed Honeydew, struggling to pull himself free so he could run to Xephos, who was doubled over, clenching his teeth and gasping for breath. Blood was trickling out of his mouth.

Brightmeer glanced over at Honeydew. “Enjoying the show?” he asked, his smile unstable.

Turning, Brightmeer knelt down next to Xephos and casually put his arm around his shoulders.

“You see, Xephos,” he said casually, “I personally hated you before I even joined Israphel. You boss everybody around, you think you're better than us, you think we're disposable... And right now, I'm not sure what's better. Seeing you in pain, or seeing Honeydew's reaction to all of this. Priceless.”

Xephos rammed his forehead into Brightmeer's nose.

Brightmeer jumped back and gingerly touched his broken nose. Blood was pouring out of it and covering the lower half of his face. It soaked into his clean white lab coat.

He chuckled. “Good to see you've still got a bit of fight left.” Then he turned, grabbed Xephos' right arm, and twisted it until his shoulder popped out of the socket.

Xephos screamed, his face paling and twisting into a horrible grimace. Honeydew was crying now, seeing his friend in so much pain. He struggled and pulled against the cultists' grips, but they were too strong.

Brightmeer cackled. “You aren't so high and mighty now, are you?” He pulled out a scalpel and drove it into Xephos' dislocated shoulder. His screams intensified.

Brightmeer pulled out the scalpel and knelt down in front of Xephos again. He grabbed his face and held him up so they were eye level. Xephos' eyes were foggy, clouded by pain.

“Tell me, Xephos. Are you familiar with the term “an eye for an eye”...?”

Xephos stopped breathing out of fear. Brightmeer slowly ran the blunt side of the scalpel against the skin around Xephos' left eye.

“How about it, then?” he asked. “You've killed people here that I cared about. You let abominations like my nephew live, and he caused _this_.” He gestured violently to his missing eye.

“So how about this. I lost my eye, so you can lose one too.”

He pressed the sharp edge of the blade into the flesh of Xephos' forehead, planning on dragging the blade down and cutting his eye, rendering it sightless.

He never got the chance. Right at that point, Honeydew burst free with a sudden rush of strength. He sprinted forwards, intent on taking Brightmeer down and putting that scalpel through his neck, but he was tackled before he could get there. He felt someone jab a needle into his back.

He just barely had time to mutter Xephos' name before his vision went black.

The last thing he saw was Brightmeer saying “I think we're done here” before striking Xephos across the head again and knocking him unconscious.

**XXX**

Lalna and Rythian had been walking for a while before they decided to stop. Not only were they tired and hungry, but they kept hearing Ghasts, and the last thing they needed was to get a limb blown off. Losing a limb in a place like this would certainly mean death.

“Maybe we should build a hut or something,” suggested Rythian. “Use something those Ghasts can't blast through.”

“Agreed,” grumbled Lalna, pulling out some cobblestone. He and Rythian quickly build a cobblestone hut that was large enough inside for both of them to have room to sleep. It may have been hideously ugly – Sjin would have been weeping if he saw it – but it would protect them.

While Rythian got right to laying down a more comfortable floor, Lalna went outside and walked back and forth along the shore of the lava ocean until he found what he was looking for.

He found a large black stone that was mostly round except for a somewhat flat side. It was hot to his ungloved hand, but not hot enough to burn. A heat stone.

With a sigh of relief, he pressed the heat stone to his right shoulder, which was incredibly sore and cramped from not being used and possibly from an infection. The heat helped relax the muscle and ease some of the pain.

As he walked back to the hut with the heat stone, he noticed a cave. At the entrance to the cave, he saw some mushrooms. Sure, they still had some food left from the Fortress, but it would definitely help to have extra food.

He poked his head in the door and told Rythian he would be right back. Then he turned and went to the cave, setting the heat stone in his sling and pulling out a sword. There were a lot of mushrooms at the entrance to the cave, enough to keep them from starving for a few more days.

He gathered as many as he could hold, but just as he was turning to leave the cave, he heard a noise.

Turning, he peered deeper into the cave. The noise sounded like it was coming from something that was hurt. Slowly, with his sword equipped, he went deeper into the cave.

The walls sloped around, and after following the long tunnel down, he came to a small pool of lava at the end. Curled up by the lava was a tiny baby Pigman.

Lowering his sword, he got down on his knees and knelt next to the creature. The little Pigman looked up at him. It looked terrified. It was trembling and clutching a mostly broken golden dagger. Lalna could see that it's right leg was broken.

It had been abandoned. Left to die.

“Hey little guy,” whispered Lalna, smiling at the baby. He hoped he could get it to calm down so he could help it. He held out his hand, but it just growled at him, baring it's sharp tiny teeth.

“It's okay,” he calmly whispered. “I'm not going to hurt you...” He reached his hand out again, but the little Pigman swung his gold dagger at him. However, the Pigman was too weak to do any damage, and the dagger broke when it hit Lalna's arm.

Lalna pulled his arm back. Maybe he should try something else. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small brown mushroom and offered it to the baby.

This caught its attention. It slowly leaned forward a bit before quickly snatching the mushroom. Then it sat back and devoured it.

Lalna smiled a bit. “Want another?”

The little Pigman stared at him for a minute before slowly nodding. Lalna pulled out another mushroom, and this time, the Pigman crawled forward so that it was sitting right next to him. It took the mushroom, acting less skittish. Instead of returning to the wall, it sat right next to Lalna as it ate. When it was finished, it stood up, only putting pressure on it's left leg, and leaned on Lalna's knee, looking up at him expectantly.

“You're still hungry?” he asked with a small laugh. “Here ya go.” He pulled out another mushroom. The little Pigman took it and ate it, still holding onto his knee.

“Will you let me help you now?” asked Lalna.

The little Pigman still looked a bit unsure. Slowly, Lalna reached towards him again, and the Pigman flinched away for a moment before biting his hand. It didn't bite very hard, though, so it didn't even break the skin.

“It's okay,” said Lalna, not phased by the bite. He reached forward and took the little Pigman's hand.

The Pigman looked back and forth between Lalna and his hand. Slowly, it fully realized that Lalna meant it no harm. As soon as it realized this, it happily climbed into Lalna's lap. Lalna smiled and scratched its ear. The little Pigman closed its eyes and smiled, making a noise that sounded a bit like purring.

After a minute, Lalna picked it up, cradling it in his good arm. Then he stood and carried it out of the cave and back to the hut.

When Lalna went in, Rythian was still facing away from the door.

“Hey Rythian, could you help me with something?” asked Lalna, kicking the door closed.

Rythian glanced over his shoulder, but when he saw Lalna standing there holding a baby Pigman, he fully turned around, his eyes wide.

“What...”

“Just help me bandage his leg,” said Lalna. “I'd do it myself, but I've only got one arm.”

Rythian blinked. “O-kay...” he said slowly, not exactly sure what to make of the situation.

Lalna walked forward and gently set the Pigman down on the crafting table.

“Don't worry, little guy,” said Lalna. “We'll get your leg all fixed up.”

Rythian pulled out a small roll of bandages and came over. The little Pigman shrunk away from him, but Lalna reached forward and took its hand. It seemed to calm down immediately.

Cautiously, Rythian wrapped the bandage around its crippled leg. It took a while, because the Pigman would keep squirming, but eventually he got it fully bandaged so that the broken bone would start healing.

By the time they finished, it was late, and the Pigman had fallen asleep.

“Thank you,” said Lalna, picking up the baby and carrying it over to a small pile of blankets he had made. He gently laid it down, and it curled up in a ball.

“Where did you even find it?” asked Rythian, kneeling down and observing the little creature.

“It was abandoned in a cave,” said Lalna. “I couldn't just leave him down there...”

Rythian nodded. “Y'know, you should probably name him.”

Lalna nodded. “I'll call him Golem.”

“Golem?”

“He reminds me of my golems back at my castle.”

Rythian nodded. “Okay, his name's Golem.”

The little Pigman smiled in his sleep.

**XXX**

It had been a day since Xephos and Honeydew had left for the Labs, and they hadn't heard from them yet.

They were starting to get worried.

“We shouldn't have let them go by themselves,” said Lomadia, who was pacing nervously. “I've never trusted that place.”

“You've been there?” asked Nilesy, who had woken up a few hours after they left. “I don't even know where the damn place is.”

“I've been there a few times,” she said. “The people they have working there kinda scare me. They look like they'll pull a knife on you if you look at them weird.”

“So you think something bad happened?” asked Nilesy, a bit distracted as Lyndon jumped up on his lap.

Lomadia was quiet for a minute. “Get some rest. I'm gonna go talk to Ridge.” Then she turned and walked out the door, Nilesy calling for her to be careful around him.

The second she was through the door, she ran smack into Ridge himself.

“You were looking for me?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if you've heard from Xephos or Honeydew yet,” said Lomadia, stepping back so that she could look him in the eye.

Ridge bit his lip, his cocky smile faltering a bit. “No, actually. I haven't heard anything.”

“Can't you use your demigod powers or something to see if they're okay?”

“Do I need to remind you that I barely have enough power to fly?”

“Right...”

Ridge grimaced. “I do think something's wrong, though.”

“We should go see for ourselves!” exclaimed Lomadia.

“We?”

Lomadia growled. “Look, I'm not just going to sit here and wait for something to happen. If there's a fight, I want to be the one to start it!”

Ridge nodded, taking a half step back from the owl lover. “I think you're right,” he said cautiously. The last thing he wanted was Lomadia blowing up and screaming at him. As long as she stayed calm, everybody else would too. “Do you want to go see who's up for a little trip to the Labs?”

Lomadia raised an eyebrow, her mouth twitching into a small incredulous smile. “Really?”

Ridge nodded.

Lomadia's smile widened. “Great,” she said, “I'll be right back.”

She turned and ran back into the building.

While Ridge waited for her to come back, he turned and faced in the general direction of the Labs. Nano appeared by his side.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“The Labs are that way,” said Ridge, pointing off in a specific direction. “Use that trick I taught you and see if you can see anything.”

“Okay...” said Nano, unsure. She stared off where Ridge was pointing and squinted. Her eyes glowed gold for a moment. She shook her head. “I can see the building, but I can't see anyone inside.”

Ridge slowly nodded. “That's what I was afraid of.”


	3. Wither

When Xephos finally woke up, it was dark, cold, and he was in immense pain. The ground beneath him was cold and hard, like concrete. His glowing blue eyes barely cast enough light for him to see by, so he fumbled in his pockets until he found the small fragment of glowstone that Honeydew had given him in the Nether.

By the light of the glowstone, he could see that he was in a cell.

“Xephos!”

Jumping at the sudden voice, Xephos turned to his right, relieved beyond belief to see Honeydew in the cell right next to him. They were separated by only a single layer of iron bars.

“A-are you okay?” asked Xephos. His throat was dry, his jaw hurt, and his head throbbed. All that pain, however, was shadowed by the agony in his shoulder. He clutched his arm as he scooted over to Honeydew, too nauseated and weak to stand.

“I'm fine,” said Honeydew. “They just drugged me. You got beat to a pulp!”

“Yeah, I remember... kinda...” mumbled Xephos. “So Brightmeer and half of the other scientists are cultists. Didn't see that coming.”

Honeydew shook his head a bit. “Let me help you with your arm.”

Reaching through the bars, Honeydew gently positioned Xephos' arm so that his hand was curled in a fist and his elbow was bent at a ninety degree angle. Then, after telling Xephos to bite down on the collar of his jacket, he jerked his arm straight up, snapping the joint back in the socket with a loud popping noise. Xephos screamed a bit, but the pain instantly diminished into a dull throbbing. He gently rolled his shoulder to make sure it was still moveable. It still hurt though, because of where Brightmeer had stabbed him.

“Better?” asked Honeydew.

Xephos nodded. How that most of the pain was gone, he didn't feel quite so sick anymore.

Honeydew reached through the bars again, and Xephos took his hand, holding it tight for comfort.

“So where are we?” asked Xephos quietly.

Suddenly, a voice from the cell on the other side of Xephos' cell answered. “It appears, Sirs, that we are in the prisons in the depths of the Labs.”

They both instantly recognized the voice, which was laced with a heavy Indian accent.

“Dr. Srivaramen!” exclaimed Xephos, looking over to his left, where the doctor appeared by the light of the glowstone.

“What are you doing down here?” asked Honeydew.

Xephos nodded, accidentally spawning in a torch, which shined light among the entire three cells.

“Professor Brightmeer went crazy!” exclaimed Srivaramen, who looked beaten up, his lab coat torn and covered in more blood than usual. “He was being followed by a lot of the other scientists, and they were killing people and letting mobs run loose!”

“How did you avoid being killed?” asked Xephos.

The doctor suddenly looked horribly distressed. “He... he told Bort to kill me... but he didn't. He knows that I raised him since he was a baby zombie, so instead of killing me, he just brought me down here...”

“I'm sorry...” said Honeydew quietly.

Dr. Srivaramen shook his head a bit. “The Professor... he was muttering something about Enderbeasts... What does that mean?”

Xephos glanced at Honeydew, who shrugged.

“No point in keeping it a secret anymore,” said Honeydew.

Xephos nodded a bit and turned to the doctor. “Do you remember our friend Lalna? He used to work here.”

Dr. Srivaramen nodded. “I remember him, but I don't remember him actually getting fired...”

Xephos started picking at a loose thread on his jacket. “That's because we had to erase your memory of the accident. We actually had to erase the memory of half the staff.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow, not at all phased that his mind had been tampered with.

“When he started out working here, he got assigned to work on the development of new medicines,” explained Xephos, accidentally spawning in another torch without realizing it. Honeydew noticed, but he didn't say anything.

“We got into a lot of fights early on, because Lalna was opposed to a lot of the experiments we were doing here,” continued Xephos. “He left the medicine project after they started testing the compounds on living subjects. Some of the scientists actually wanted to erase his memory, but Honeydew and I didn't allow it.”

“Just a moment,” said the doctor. “You said he was assigned to the medical department, correct?”

Xephos and Honeydew nodded.

“But isn't that the department that created Chemical X and contributed to my department?”

“Unfortunately,” said Honeydew.

“Also... isn't Professor Brightmeer related to Dr. Lalna?” asked Srivaramen.

“Brightmeer is his uncle,” said Xephos. “And Lalna is the Enderbeast he was talking about.”

The doctor's eyes widened. “How did that happen? Was there an accident with the mutant Endermen?”

Xephos' eye twitched a bit. “Sort of, but it happened a long time ago. A few years ago he got poisoned by a mutant Enderman, and it turned him into an Enderbeast. That's why all of his clones are defective.”

“How did that happen? And what does this have to do with the Professor?”

Xephos groaned a bit and tiredly rubbed his eyes. “Two of the first mutant Endermen we created escaped and got into one of the time machines. And Brightmeer... well, Lalna tried to tell me about all the inhumane experiments that he and his group were doing, but they got to him before he could get to us. Brightmeer had some of his drugged up scientists drag him down to god knows where in the Labs and torture him to hopefully keep him from saying anything.”

“That's horrible...” muttered Srivaramen.

Honeydew nodded. “That isn't even the worst part.”

“Lalna escaped after some time, and he came to find us, but he found us right as we were doing tests with the mutant Endermen,” said Xephos. “You were there, but I'm sure we've erased this part. He started freaking out when he saw the experiments we were doing, and he and I got into an enormous fight. That was when he realized that it was my fault he's an Enderbeast. That I was the one responsible for creating the mutant that ruined his life. I don't really remember many of the details, but halfway through, Brightmeer and some of his followers showed up. Brightmeer didn't want Lalna to tell us about what happened, so he threw a bottle of Chemical X to distract us.”

“Unfortunately for him,” said Honeydew, “the chemical hit Lalna.”

“The compound doesn't affect humans,” said the doctor, “but...”

“But Lalna isn't entirely human,” finished Xephos. “He managed to hold on long enough for us to get almost everyone out, but when he mutated, I had to lock down the doors, and it was just me, Honeydew, and Brightmeer left trapped in there with him.”

“He didn't really try to attack us, but he mauled Brightmeer,” said Honeydew. “That's how he lost his eye and half of his face.”

“One of the lab assistants brought us the antidote,” said Xephos. “We managed to get Lalna under control, and we had to wipe everyone's minds to keep his secret a secret.”

“Then we had to fire him,” mumbled Honeydew.

“If we didn't, his presence would have eventually undone the memory wash,” said Xephos.

“Apparently the brainwash didn't work so well on Brightmeer,” said Honeydew with a shrug. “Then he joined the Cult of Israphel, went batshit crazy, took over YogLabs, and threw us in prison until they're ready to sacrifice us to bring Israphel back to life. Did I miss anything?”

“I think you pretty much summed it up,” mumbled Xephos.

Dr. Srivaramen was still sitting there, slowly remembering the accident.

There was nothing left for them to do but wait.

**XXX**

When Lalna woke up hours later, before he even opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong.

The aching in his arm had spread through his shoulder and chest. It was a dull yet constant throb that seemed to come from his very bones. He was struggling to breathe, and he felt like his blood was boiling, yet he was shivering.

One word rang out in his mind.

Infection.

With a grimace, he forced himself to breathe deeply. Everything inside of him felt sore, his head hurt, his eyes burned, and he felt nauseous and dizzy, even though he was still laying down.

Slowly, he forced his eyes open.

The baby Pigman, Golem, was sitting on his chest, looking down at him.

Maybe that's why it was so hard to breathe.

With a small laugh, Lalna reached up and scratched the Pigman behind the ear, making it close it's eyes and lean into his hand.

Slowly, he sat up, and Golem jumped off. That was when he noticed Rythian was awake and watching him.

“You okay?” asked Rythian, his eyes showing a hint of genuine concern.

“I'm fine,” groaned Lalna.

“Are you sure? You look really pale, and it looked like you were having trouble breathing earlier.”

“Golem was sitting on my chest.”

“Before that.”

“I have asthma, and it's hot as hell down here.” Lalna stood up and gathered up his blanket, stowing it away in his inventory. He reached into his pocket and gave Golem a mushroom.

Now that he was standing up, the dizziness and nausea were worse, and he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over. However, after drinking a bit of water, he felt better and less dizzy. That deep aching feeling in his bones remained, however; the feeling was especially intense in his right arm.

“We better get moving,” said Rythian after tossing an apple to Lalna. He wasn't very hungry, but he ate the apple anyways, knowing he'd need his strength.

They gathered their stuff and tore down their hut before walking on. Golem was sitting on Lalna's left shoulder as they walked.

The sounds of the Ghasts were incredibly loud now. They had gained on them.

Lalna and Rythian kept walking until their feet bled.

It had been a few hours since they left their hut, and the heat had already sapped most of their energy. They were running low on water.

That was when they saw it.

Just over the next hill, they saw a derelict old building. It looked like an abandoned bunker.

Without a word, Lalna set Golem down, and he and Rythian took out their weapons.

They cautiously moved closer to the bunker. It was pitch black inside, but they didn't hear anything moving. Rythian tossed a torch inside, but it cast light on nothing.

Rythian turned and looked over his shoulder at Lalna. “I think it's safe.”

Lalna was about to say something, but his eyes widened and whatever color he had regained drained from his face.

“Look out!” he shouted, pointing behind Rythian.

Rythian turned around in time to come face to face with a Wither skeleton.

“Shit!” Rythian jumped back, just barely avoiding being sliced open. He cut the skeleton in half with a single blow.

Retreating back to where Lalna was standing, he took out his bow and arrows. An entire horde of Wither skeletons began to pour forth from the bunker.

“We're screwed...” was all Lalna had the chance to mutter before they were attacked.

They quickly split up to try and confuse the skeletons. Lalna ended up down by the shore of the lava lake, while Rythian was backed up closer to the large cliffs of Netherrack. Golem ran around to try and help confuse them further.

Half of the skeletons came at Lalna, while the other half came at Rythian. The Mage was holding his ground, hacking and slashing at the skeletons and occasionally shooting one of the skeletons trying to attack Lalna.

The scientist really appreciated the help. Not only was he reduced to fighting with one hand, but he was exhausted from all the walking, sick from whatever was wrong with his arm, and his working arm was tired from carrying Golem. What he wouldn't give for a laser or a gun.

He managed to take down half of the horde attacking him before he had to resort to magic.

Charging his sword with Ender magic, he swung at the thin air in front of him. An invisible blade cut every skeleton around him in half. Only one of them escaped death, and it ended up standing on the very edge of the lava lake.

He Sparta kicked it into the lake. Then he ran over to help Rythian.

The Mage had finished almost all of the skeletons attacking him. All but one.

Lalna shouted for him to look out, but by the time Rythian turned around, it was too late.

The Wither skeleton slashed his side open. Blood and a horrible black goo started to pour out of the wound.

Rythian screamed and doubled over, dropping to his knees. The last Wither skeleton raised its sword to kill him.

Lalna threw his sword with all the strength he had left. It flew through the air and stabbed the skeleton right through the skull.

Yanking his sword out of the skull, Lalna ran over to Rythian, who was bent over, coughing so hard Lalna thought he was about to cough up a lung.

Kneeling down next to him, he saw that the blood dripping from the wound was turning black, as was the skin around the wound. Rythian had been Withered.

“That's not good...” muttered Lalna.

Then he looked up.

Dozens of Wither skeletons were crawling from the bunker. There was absolutely no way they would be able to kill them all, and neither of them were in the condition to run away.

Golem ran over and hid behind Lalna's back.

And then the Ghasts arrived.

Fireballs rained from the sky, destroying most of the Wither skeletons _and_ the bunker.

Using that distraction, Lalna grabbed Rythian and hoisted him into a standing position. He was leaning heavily against the scientist, groaning in pain and barely conscious. Golem ran after them, staying close to Lalna's heels.

Lalna dragged him into the closest cave and sat him upright against the cave wall. Then, looking out, he saw that all of the Wither skeletons had been dispatched, and all but one of the Ghasts had disbanded.

The one Ghast that still lingered in the air above them posed a serious threat. Lalna had to take it out.

Looking back over near the bunker, he saw Rythian's bow laying on the ground where he had dropped it. There was still an arrow notched on the string.

He judged the distance. It would be difficult in his fatigued state, but as long as he got the Ghast away from the cave and Rythian and Golem, it would be okay.

Waiting for the Ghast to turn its back, he ducked out of the cave entrance and ran for the bow.

The Ghast heard him and shot a fireball at him, but it missed, exploding a few meters behind him and to the right.

He was close. The only issue would be firing the bow with only one arm.

He reached the bow. Leaning over, he snatched it up and kept running. Then, when he had put a good distance between himself and the Ghast and cave, he turned and dropped to the ground, laying on his back. Using his feet, he held the bow sideways and aimed the arrow at the approaching Ghast. With his hand, he pulled the string back.

The Ghast shot another fireball.

Lalna let the arrow fly.

The arrow hit the fireball and sent it flying backwards. It hit the Ghast and killed it instantly.

Standing up, Lalna ran over to the Ghast's body and ripped its eye out. Then, taking the entire eye, he ran back to the cave.

When he got back, he blocked up the entrance and turned back to Rythian.

“W-w-what the f-fuck h-happened?” demanded Rythian, pulling his mask down so he could cough freely.

“Had to take care of the last Ghast,” he gasped, winded from the sprint.

Rythian started coughing again, doubling over and grimacing. It was all made more grotesque and horrifying by his mouth, which was split open across his face and covered in scars.

In order to avoid looking at Rythian's split mouth, Lalna looked at the bleeding wound on his side. “How do I fix this?” he asked, pointing to the wound with a trembling hand.

“Make-” Rythian grimaced, “... make a potion.” He reached into his inventory and pulled out a blaze rod, handing it to Lalna.

Lalna quickly threw down a crafting table and built a brewing stand. That was when he realized the problem.

“We don't have enough water,” he said.

Rythian didn't respond. Instead, he suddenly doubled over and vomited up a mess of black blood and sludge.

Lalna turned away, feeling even more nauseous now. He tasted bile rising up in the back of his throat. However, when he glanced back, he saw that Rythian had a small purple sphere hovering over his hand. He tossed it to Lalna.

Lalna held the magic above his hand, and it opened, revealing a spell written in purple floating letters.

“Tr-transformation spell,” Rythian choked out.

Lalna quickly took off his amulet and put it around Rythian's neck, hopefully allowing him to heal a bit. Without the amulet, his eyes glowed purple and his hair darkened, but he was able to read the spell.

He nodded and closed his hand, reciting the spell in his mind. He quickly stood up and went to a small pool of lava near the back of the cave. Focusing on the lava, he recited the spell under his breath. His eyes and hands – even the bandaged hand – started to glow purple.

With a sudden and violent wave of his hand, he preformed the spell. There was a loud _SNAP_ , and he was instantly rendered unconscious.

Lalna woke up a minute later when he heard Rythian calling his name. He sat up and found that he had a killer nosebleed. However, the small pool of lava in front of him had been turned to water.

Ignoring the blood pouring from his nose and the killer headache and the strong urge to vomit or pass out, Lalna filled up all of their bottles and canteens with the water. Then he scrambled over to the brewing stand and put three bottles of water in the bottom. Turning, he saw that Golem had dug up some Nether wart, so he took that and used it to create the base potion.

“Lalna...” groaned Rythian, his face twisting in pain. Veins of gray and black were starting to creep up his neck as the poison spread.

“Just another minute,” exclaimed Lalna, dizzily holding onto the crafting table to stay upright. That spell had really taken a toll on his energy. It was a miracle he was still conscious.

A few seconds later, the base potion was done. Lalna took out the Ghast eye and held it over the brewing stand. He squeezed the eye, and a single large tear came out and dropped down into the brewing stand.

Lalna tossed the eye away, and a minute later, he had made three potions of regeneration.

Lalna snatched one and shoved it into Rythian's trembling hands.

Rythian didn't hesitate to drink the potion. As soon as he did, the black veins almost instantly disappeared. Slowly, the wound stopped bleeding and began to heal.

“We should... we should keep those potions for later,” said Lalna as he sat slumped against the opposite wall. Rythian nodded in agreement before taking off the amulet and tossing it back to Lalna. He put it back on and his eyes and most of his hair returned to normal. There was still a single black streak in the front, almost in the same place as Rythian's streak of light hair.

“So are you okay?” asked Lalna, his voice clearly showing his exhaustion.

Rythian nodded. “Much better,” he said. “Thanks.”

Lalna gave a small smirk. “Why do I have to keep saving your ass?” he grumbled quietly before laying down, curling up on his side, and passing out.

**XXX**

Ridge, Lomadia, Nano, Sips, and Sjin stood in front of the entrance to the YogLabs. The enormous door was firmly shut.

Nano, Sjin, and Sips were in awe. None of them had actually seen the Labs before.

Lomadia and Ridge were too busy being worried to be impressed by the sheer enormity of the Labs.

“Why is the door sealed?” asked Lomadia. “The door's never sealed.”

Ridge was squinting at the door, his eyes glowing gold. “You were right to be worried,” he said. “There's something going on in there. I can't tell what it is, but I can tell that it isn't good.”

Lomadia glanced up at the sky. Night was falling fast.

“We should probably get somewhere safe for the night,” she said. “We can figure out a way to get inside in the morning.”

Ridge nodded, and he whistled at the other three to get their attention. They stopped wandering around and ran back to the group.

Lomadia couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit. She knew Sips and Sjin hadn't wanted to come, but she made them, because the other few that did want to come were too busy or incapacitated. Minty had wanted to come, but she was too busy making sure everybody recovered. Zoeya wanted to come, but she was still sick. Even Panda wanted to come, but he was still recovering from the heat exhaustion he had succumbed to in the Nether.

Once they were all together, Ridge led them up the path to an outpost. It was brightly lit inside, and it was spacious enough for all of them. There was even some food.

“So Ridge,” said Lomadia as they all settled down for the night, “how are we going to get inside the Labs?”

“There's a secret back entrance,” said Ridge. “But it'll take a while for us to get to it. It's on the top of the mountain.”

“So I guess that means we better get to sleep,” said Nano, who was tiredly leaning against Lomadia. “I get the feeling it'll be a long day tomorrow.”

**XXX**

The scientists had been working nonstop since they took over the Labs.

Professor Brightmeer stood watching them work. Nobody was tired yet, thanks to the adrenaline and caffeine supplement drugs they were continuously injecting into themselves.

They were using all of their knowledge of the dimensional rifts and modified portal guns to try and open a gateway to the Nether. After all, they had to do the sacrifice there, or Israphel wouldn't return.

Suddenly, one of the scientists came running over.

“Sir!” he exclaimed. “I think we found a solution! They've permanently burnt out all of the Nether portals here, but if we could travel to another world, we may be able to open another portal.”

Professor Brightmeer nodded coldly. “How would you propose getting to a new world?” he asked.

The scientist held up a blueprint of a portal gun.

“Dr. Lalna designed this before he was fired,” he said. “It's a modification of his original portal gun, except we don't need to place a second portal. If we can build this, then we should be able to program where it should end up. We go through it and end up in another world. The Nether will remain the same.”

Brightmeer nodded. “Put this plan into action immediately.”

The scientist nodded and sprinted off to inform the other scientists.

The professor glared coldly into the distance.

They would soon have their victory. And he knew exactly where they had to go to achieve their victory.

They needed to return to the Old World.


	4. The Price of Survival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may be considered disturbing for some readers. You have been warned.

Lalna woke up later in an ungodly amount of pain. His arm felt like it was on fire. It felt like his bones were filled with needles. He quickly took out the heat stone and pressed it against his arm, but it didn't help. The pain was sucking the air from his lungs, and he started trembling.

Suddenly, he felt someone shaking his shoulder. Someone was calling his name.

With a gasp, Lalna opened his eyes and saw that Rythian had been shaking him awake.

As soon as he snapped back into reality, the pain seemed to recede and his breathing came much easier.

“Lalna, what is going on?” asked Rythian, his eyes wide with concern. “Are you okay?”

Lalna waved off his concern. “I'm fine,” he said tiredly. “My arm just hurts, that's all.”

Rythian narrowed his eyes a bit. “Maybe you should let me check on your arm,” he suggested, pointing at Lalna's bandaged arm.

Lalna rolled his eyes and pulled the sling down. “Look, there are barely any bloodstains,” he said, painfully holding up his bandaged arm. “We don't have infinite bandages, so we should save them until we need them.”

Rythian sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said. He stood up and started gathering his stuff. “We better get going, then. I want to try and find a Nether fortress to set up a permanent camp in.”

Lalna nodded. “Sounds like a good plan...” he mumbled. He stood up, and Golem sleepily stumbled over to him, holding onto his leg.

“Golem didn't sleep at all,” said Rythian. “He kept an eye on us all night.”

Lalna smiled down at the Pigman. “Thanks, buddy,” he said. “Want me to carry you?”

Golem shook his head and walked off.

A few minutes later, they were ready to go. They left the cave, taking all the water that they could with them. Rythian took the brewing stand and extra potions as well.

They were out walking again. Both of them had bandaged their blistered and bleeding feet.

They only walked for about fifteen minutes before Lalna called for Rythian to stop.

Turning around, Rythian saw that Golem had fallen asleep, curled up on the ground. Lalna was on his knees beside him, but because of his bandaged arm, he wasn't able to get Golem in the right position to pick him up.

“Here,” said Rythian, coming back and kneeling down. He gently picked up Golem and cradled him in his arms. The baby shifted a bit and snuggled up against Rythian's chest.

Lalna smiled tiredly. “That's adorable.”

Rythian nodded. “Why don't I carry him for a while,” he said quietly.

Lalna nodded. “I'd appreciate that.”

They both stood up and started walking again. Rythian took great measures to make sure he was walking smoothly and supporting Golem.

He had no idea if this was the proper way to hold a baby, but if what Zoeya told him before she left was true, he would need all the practice he could get.

**XXX**

It was early in the morning when the door to the prison cells burst open and several beefy scientists walked in.

Xephos and Honeydew snapped awake at the sudden sound, and they barely had time to realize what was going on before they were both pulled from their respective cells.

Xephos barely had time to shoot an apologetic look at Dr. Srivaramen before they were dragged through the door.

He and Honeydew were quickly chained up with their hands in cuffs behind their backs. They were dragged up the stairs and into the main lobby of the Labs. It was dark and deserted. There was blood splattered on the floor and walls.

The scientists dragged them down the long back corridor and down into the deep basement.

In the farthest underground storage unit, all of the cultist scientists were gathered in front of a large machine. It looked like a large metal base with two Tesla coils hooked up to it, one on each side. The coils were arcing with electricity.

In front of the machine stood Professor Brightmeer.

“Hello, boys,” said the professor. “Sleep well?”

“Fuck off,” deadpanned Honeydew.

“Thought so,” said Brightmeer. He turned to the scientists at the computers. “Are we all ready to go?”

The scientists turned and nodded. Several gave him thumbs up.

Brightmeer smiled menacingly and pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pressed the button.

The coils started to arc violently, and above the center of the metal base, a stormy gray portal appeared. Arcs of electricity jumped from within it.

“You stay here and have the portal ready to open when we come back,” Brightmeer said to the scientists at the computer. “Everybody else, with me.”

“What about everyone else still alive in the Labs?” asked one of the scientists.

“Leave them to die,” said Brightmeer emotionlessly.

Then they went through the portal.

**XXX**

At the exact moment the portal to the Old World was opened, the Nether exploded.

Lalna and Rythian had finally reached the end to the lava ocean, and imbedded in the wall of the enormous cliff face was a half buried Nether Fortress.

They both ran over to it, exhausted from the long walk. However, when they were only meters away from the wall, there was an enormous earthquake. The lava ocean bubbled violently and exploded upwards, sending a wave of lava right at them.

Lalna screamed, and Rythian pulled out a pick axe and broke through the wall faster than he thought possible. He went inside and pulled Lalna in after him. Then he sealed the wall again only seconds before the lava engulfed the building.

“What the hell was that?!” shouted Rythian, his hands shaking as he backed away from the wall.

Lalna set Golem down. The baby Pigman looked petrified.

“I have no idea,” he said, his voice shaking. “I mean, I know what happened. The Nether is a volcano. It just erupted. But I don't know what caused it.”

“Caused it?” asked Rythian, panting. It was now a lot hotter in the fortress thanks to the lava only a meter away.

Lalna nodded. “Volcanic activity in the Nether is usually only caused by sudden disturbances in the Overworld.”

Rythian's eyes widened. “Do you think it was the others? Do you think they found a way to get back here?”

He sounded so excited. Lalna didn't have the heart to tell him that it was probably something else.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off as an arrow flew out of the darkness and embedded itself in the wall an inch from his nose.

They both whipped around and looked down the corridor. Much to their horror, several Blazes, Wither skeletons, and regular skeletons emerged from the darkness.

“Shit...” muttered Lalna.

It all happened very quickly after that.

Bones and fire were everywhere. The Blazes were relentless, and both of them were instantly burnt. Lalna managed to kill one of the Blazes by deflecting an arrow that had been shot at him and sending it right back to the Blaze that was terrorizing him.

They hacked and slashed at the monsters. Rythian got stabbed through the shoulder by a Wither skeleton. Lalna took several arrows to the chest.

Golem took out the last Blaze by throwing a water bottle at it.

After the Blazes were gone, the skeletons fell quickly.

Lalna and Rythian both collapsed, sitting next to each other with their backs against the wall.

Rythian looked at the deep wound on his shoulder. It was pouring blood and black fluid, and the black veins were creeping along his arm. He had been Withered again.

He looked over at Lalna and saw that he was staring down at the arrows sticking out of his chest. Blood was trickling out of his mouth. He slowly reached up and touched one of the arrows, only to flinch in pain.

“I think...” Rythian gasped out, “we should use those other two potions.”

Lalna nodded breathlessly. He cautiously reached up and painfully pulled out one of the arrows that had gotten lodged in his ribcage. The wound began to bleed profusely.

Rythian pulled out both potions. He drank his potion, and his wounds began to heal. As soon as he had full mobility of his arms again, he turned to help Lalna.

“Okay, hold still,” he instructed. “This may hurt a bit.”

Lalna squeezed his eyes closed. Rythian pulled the remaining arrows out as carefully as he could, and as soon as they were out, he put the potion in Lalna's trembling bloodstained hand.

Lalna drank the potion so fast Rythian was afraid he would choke. He did cough a bit, but that was because one of the arrows had hit his lung. The potion still worked, however, and his burns and the wounds on his chest healed.

“So I guess we're out of potions now,” said Lalna, tossing the bottle aside.

Rythian shrugged and sat back against the wall. Golem came and sat down between the two.

They decided to wait until the lava had receded to continue exploring.

As they waited, Lalna noticed something.

He was still in pain and feverish from his arm, but that wasn't it. He couldn't move his hand anymore. He stared down at his hand and tried to curl his fingers into a fist, but he didn't get so much as a twitch.

The potion and his amulet together hadn't been able to heal his crippled hand. What was wrong with it?

Lalna really wanted to take off the bandages and find out, but they were barely bloodstained, and they couldn't afford to waste any bandages.

Finally, after several hours, the lava receded.

Rythian and Golem stood up, ready to go, but Lalna was much more lethargic. He felt nauseous and lightheaded when he stood up.

Rythian noticed how pale he looked.

“Lalna? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I'm fine,” he lied. “I've got a fever, that's why I don't feel so good.”

Rythian stepped closer and put his hand against Lalna's forehead. “You're right,” he said, “you're burning up. Why didn't you say anything before?”

Lalna shrugged tiredly. “Because we weren't safe before. Now we're relatively safe, so you can expect me to start complaining any minute.”

Rythian rolled his eyes. “Looking forward to it.”

Lalna snickered a bit and picked up his sword. Then he and Rythian walked deeper into the fortress.

**XXX**

The climb up the mountain took all morning. Lomadia was exhausted, Sips and Sjin were complaining at the top of their lungs, and Nano looked angry at Ridge, who had told her not to fly ahead.

The demigod and his sister had climbed the mountain like the rest of them. Lomadia had suspected that Ridge didn't have the power to waste on flying, but when they found the secret entrance, she saw why he had been saving his magic.

The so called secret entrance was an enormously deep hole straight through the mountain and down into what appeared to be a small pool of water.

“Okay, here's the plan,” said Ridge, looking down the shaft. “Knowing these scientists, if anything was going on, they would have sabotaged the secret entrance. I'm willing to bet there's only a few inches of water at the bottom. So here's what we're going to do. Nano, you'll carry Sips and Sjin down, and I'll carry Lomadia down.”

Nano groaned. “Why them?” she asked, gesturing to the boys.

“Because I'm still not strong enough to carry more than one person,” he said.

They all stood up. Lomadia climbed onto Ridge's back, and Sips and Sjin clung to Nano like leeches.

Ridge nodded, and he and Nano stepped over the edge.

They fell for what seemed like an eternity before Ridge and Nano slowed down. Sips and Sjin were screaming like little girls the whole time.

They landed. Like Ridge predicted, the water was only a foot deep. If they had jumped, they would have died.

They all climbed out of the drained pool and found themselves in the air ducts of the Labs. They found a hole in the floor and dropped down into the Labs.

The whole building was dark and desolate. Things were scattered across the floor, and the air smelled like blood and ozone.

“I don't like this...” said Ridge, looking around. “Something is blocking me from seeing everything.”

“Is something blocking you from seeing that?” asked Sjin, suddenly pointing to something on the ground. It looked like a burnt out torch.

“Look, there are more over there,” said Lomadia, pointing along the wall.

“Maybe it's like a breadcrumb trail or something,” said Sips, who was hiding behind Sjin.

“Well, let's see where it leads,” suggested Nano. She and Lomadia took the lead and followed the path of burnt out and unused torches. It led them to a hidden door, which opened and revealed a long dark stairway.

With a slight gulp, Lomadia picked up one of the unused torches and struck it against the wall, lighting it. The torch shed a lot of light, but it made it harder to see beyond the shadows.

They went down the stairs. Finally, they found themselves in a prison.

“Doctor!” exclaimed Ridge, quickly walking forward and standing in front of Dr. Srivaramen's cell. “What happened here?”

“The other scientists are cultists!” exclaimed Srivaramen, both glad to see Ridge and scared of him at the same time.

“Where are Xephos and Honeydew?” he demanded.

The doctor shook his head. “The scientists took them early this morning. I don't know what they are doing with them.”

Ridge nodded. Then, with one hand, he ripped the barred door right off of its frames.

This startled everybody.

“Find the keys and let everybody else out,” said Ridge to the doctor, glancing around and seeing a handful of other scientists locked up in cells. “Meet us upstairs in the main lobby.”

The doctor nodded and ran off to look for the keys.

Ridge set the door down against the cell wall and turned back to the others. “Let's go,” he said, taking the torch from Lomadia and leading the way back up the stairs.

“We should follow the torches and see where else they lead,” suggested Sjin.

Ridge nodded, already following them. None of the others seemed to question where the torches had come from, but he knew. Xephos had spawned them in. He wasn't sure if it was accidental or not, but either way, it meant his blood had affected the spaceman in the way he feared. He just hoped the scientists hadn't realized it yet.

They reached the lobby and found that the trail ended at a closed door. Ridge and Nano went over to the control panel and began to work on powering it back up and opening the door. They didn't want to smash it down for fear of alerting whoever was on the other side.

While they were waiting, Dr. Srivaramen and the other scientists arrived. Lomadia explained what was going on, and she told them to wait in the lobby until they could make sure it was safe downstairs.

Finally, Ridge got the door working, and it silently slid open.

They readied their weapons and crept through the door. The path led down into the deep storage unit. Then it continued deeper and deeper and got darker and darker until the torches no longer warded off the shadows.

Finally, they found it. A large cavernous room filled with sandstone structures.

There was a strange metal platform in the center of the room, and several cultist scientists were walking around it.

“It's a portal...” whispered Ridge.

“Where does it lead?” Lomadia whispered back.

Ridge squinted, and his eyes started glowing gold. Suddenly, he gasped and his eyes widened a bit.

“They figured it out,” he said. “The scientists are trying to get back to the Nether too. They're gonna try and release Israphel!”

“What are you talking about?!” exclaimed Nano in a hushed whisper.

“Yeah, and where does the portal go?” asked Sips. 

“They're going to sacrifice Honeydew and Xephos to bring Israphel back,” muttered Ridge. “That portal leads to the Old World.”

“The Old World?” asked Sjin, sounding a bit panicky. “W-why would they want to go there?!”

Ridge's eyes slowly widened. “Because in the Old World the Nether portals would still work.”

They were all quiet for a minute before Lomadia stood up with her sword out. “Okay, follow me.”

Then she turned and walked down the stairs, right towards the crowd of cultist scientists.

**XXX**

Lalna and Rythian continued to walk through the fortress. They had explored most of it, now it was only a matter of clearing it of the Wither skeletons and Blazes.

Rythian had taken the lead, and Golem was walking beside him. Lalna had fallen back a bit, and seemed to be struggling to keep up. Rythian assumed it was because of his fever.

They reached a long and thankfully empty hallway with several small pools of lava dotted along one wall, lighting the area.

Rythian continued to walk, but when Golem, who had been walking slightly in front of him, stopped suddenly and turned around, he stopped and looked behind him.

Lalna was slumped against the wall, his eyes squeezed closed and his face pale and sweaty. He was clutching his right arm close to his chest and grimacing in pain, gasping for breath.

Rythian's eyes widened, and he quickly went over to Lalna, who had slid into a sitting position against the wall. He was still curled around his arm.

“Lalna, are you okay?” exclaimed Rythian nervously. “What's wrong?”

Lalna looked like he was about to vomit. “It hurts...” he gasped out.

“Let me see it,” said Rythian hurriedly, taking Lalna's arm. He used a bit of magic to slice away the bandages, which fell into his lap and revealed Lalna's mutilated arm.

What he saw made him want to throw up.

Lalna's entire hand and wrist was black with gangrene. He could see the infection reaching nearly up to his elbow, if just below. If this infection got into his heart...

Rythian shook his head and sent waves of magic healing energy into his arm, but it did nothing. None of his Ender magic could bring back something that was dead, and had been dead for several days now. That was probably the reason Lalna hadn't been able to move his hand.

Lalna was still gasping for breath – by now, he had moved to a position where he was laying close to the wall.

Rythian gulped and took off his cloak, folding it up and laying it under his head to act as a pillow. Then he took Lalna's lab coat, which had been lying next to him, and threw it over him to act as a blanket.

Quickly, he stood and blocked up the corridor on both ends to prevent any mobs from sneaking up on them. Then he went back to Lalna.

The poor scientist was gasping for breath and thrashing, clearly in a horrible amount of pain. Golem was kneeling next to him and gently patting his head, not understanding what was happening yet trying to calm his friend.

Rythian moved Lalna's infected arm so that it was clear of his body. The arm, which had already been horribly deformed and broken from the torture and improper healing, looked even worse. It was twisted and discolored, and it smelled like decay and death. Using a bit of magic, Rythian could see that the nerves in his fingers had died already, along with most of the muscle in his entire lower arm. Several of the cuts had pus oozing out of them, and two of his fingernails had fallen out.

Rythian slowly shook his head.

Knowing he had to move fast, he stood up and drew his sword. He quickly walked over to one of the little pools of lava and dipped his sword into it. After a moment, he pulled the sword out again. It was glowing white hot.

Shaking it free of all the lava, Rythian looked over at Lalna and Golem.

“Golem.”

The little Pigman looked up at him.

“Look away.”

The Pigman looked incredibly worried by this, but he obeyed, turning and sitting in the corner, facing the wall and covering his ears as if he already knew what was going to happen.

Quickly, Rythian knelt down next to Lalna, whose decaying arm was still outstretched.

He lined up his blade with Lalna's elbow, which was just above where the infection stopped.

Then, knowing this day would haunt him for the rest of his life, he raised his blade and brought it down.

It wasn't the sound that got him – the sound of blade hitting flesh and bone breaking and the hissing noise as the hot blade cauterized the wound. It was Lalna's scream that would haunt his nightmares. A raw, primal scream filled with nothing but pain.

The shockwave from the impact was still ricocheting up and down his arms.

Feeling suddenly nauseous, Rythian kicked the severed limb aside and instantly got to work on the wound, which was still bleeding even after being cauterized. Dark red blood with clumps of infected black blood was still pouring out of the wound.

Lalna's screams had turned into whimpers, and his convulsing and thrashing had turned to violent tremors and shivering. He continued to gasp for breath and cough, tears of pain streaming down his face and leaving tracks in the grime and dirt caked onto his skin.

Rythian tried to focus on healing the wound, but he himself was trembling, barely able to keep his hands steady. His magic was starting to falter again, especially because he was so far from the End, and because he was panicking.

What did he expect? After all, he had just cut off Lalna's arm.

“Thank god you're not right handed,” Rythian muttered to his half conscious friend as he pulled several rolls of bandages from his inventory and began to tightly bandage the wound.

Lalna's response was a delirious string of curses.

Rythian applied several layers of bandages and a tourniquet to hopefully reduce the bleeding.

Then he glanced over and saw the severed arm.

The sight alone almost made him throw up, just seeing it sitting there oozing black blood, knowing that only a few minutes ago, it had been connected to the other half of Lalna's arm.

Walking over to it, he gingerly picked it up with the tips of his fingers and carried it over to the pool of lava, where he dropped it in.

The smell it released when it melted was what sent Rythian over the edge. He quickly pulled down his mask, ran to the nearest open window, and vomited out of it.

After a moment, his stomach was empty and he had a foul taste in his mouth.

Shaking it off as best as he could, he went back over to Lalna. That was when he realized something had gone wrong.

Lalna was dead pale, and he was barely moving – the only sign of life was his ragged and pained breathing, and the blood staining the bandage around the stump of his right arm.

Rythian pressed his hand to his forehead and found his fever to be much higher. However, he took his pulse and found it to be incredibly fast and weak. Rythian tried talking to him, but he didn't respond. He simply lay still, half conscious and barely breathing.

That was when Rythian realized he was going into shock.

“Shit...” muttered Rythian. He had no idea what to do!

Lalna was starting to breathe faster, his ragged gasping turning into hyperventilation, most likely from the pain and trauma.

Rythian tried to remember something – anything! - that could help treat shock. Or a panic attack. Or whatever was happening to him.

When Lalna opened his eyes, he saw that they were incredibly glazed over, and he was muttering to himself, delirious from the pain and fever and shock and blood loss.

Rythian felt himself start to panic. He had saved his friend from dying from a horrible and painful infection, only to have something like shock threaten his life?!

Lalna was starting to shiver. Rythian couldn't remember if that was a symptom of a panic attack getting worse or shock getting worse.

“C'mon Lalna, stay with me,” begged Rythian, gently shaking Lalna's shoulder to try and get him to focus.

If he could just get him to calm down, it would make things easier.

Lalna was slipping out of consciousness.

At this point, Golem crept over and cautiously nudged Lalna, trying to get him to wake up. Even though Lalna didn't open his eyes, Rythian noticed that his breathing slowed down a bit.

This gave Rythian an idea.

“Lalna, can you hear me...?” he asked, trying to hide the apprehension in his voice. “Tell me you can hear me.”

After a moment, Lalna let out a small groan. He looked like he was trying to concentrate enough to open his eyes.

“Okay, I need you to calm down,” he said carefully. “At least slow your breathing, or it will just be worse. Just think about home. Think about Xephos and Honeydew. Think about Lomadia and Ridge.”

Just the mention of the names seemed to make Lalna calm down significantly. The hyperventilating slowly stopped.

Rythian nodded. “We're going to see them again soon,” he said. “They're gonna find us and save us. They're already on their way. You just have to hold on a little bit longer.”

Slowly, Lalna nodded. For a split second, Rythian thought he saw a small smile appear on his face, and then he was unconscious.

He was still shivering, though, possibly from losing heat with all of the blood, or possibly from the knowledge that his other arm was gone.

Sighing deeply and trying to repress the memory of what just happened, Rythian adjusted the cloak and lab coat so that Lalna's situation was a bit more comfortable. He managed to get the scientist to swallow a bit of water, which would help a bit, even though what he really needed was professional medical help.

Rythian noticed that Lalna's breathing was still labored, mostly due to the loss of oxygenated blood. His skin had also taken on a slightly blue tinge due to the blood loss.

Over the next few hours, Lalna's condition didn't get any worse, but at the same time it didn't get any better. He still had trouble breathing, so Rythian periodically had to move him onto his side. He would occasionally get him to swallow some water, but it wasn't much. His blood loss was still a major problem, especially because the wound was still bleeding.

Rythian had changed the bandages three times over the course of the six hours they spent there, and every time they were soaked through with dark red blood.

It shocked him how quickly Lalna's condition had deteriorated, and it actually made him wonder how much pain he had really been in the whole time.

The later it got, the more Rythian worried. Lalna hadn't woken up yet. His crystal was flickering, trying its best to heal the wound. Because the crystal was draining a lot of energy trying to heal him, Rythian noticed a few strands of black hair appearing, and he assumed if Lalna opened his eyes, they'd be purple.

Golem was curled up against Lalna's uninjured side, as he had been for several hours now. He had fallen asleep half an hour ago, but Rythian noticed he was still clutching Lalna's chest to keep him close.

Rythian stood and started pacing around. He occasionally heard bones clattering from beyond the walls, but he didn't think much about it. The skeletons couldn't hurt them while they were in here.

All he had to do was wait for Lalna to wake up. But how would he react? Would he lose it? He wasn't known for being the most stable person...

Would he be mad at Rythian? Or would he understand that he did what he did to save his life?

There was no way to know until he woke up.

After another hour of restless pacing and nervous sighs, Rythian finally started to feel tired.

He made sure the area was completely secure, then he made Lalna drink some more water before finally sitting and leaning back against the wall, his sword in his lap. He was sitting by Lalna's head, so he reached over and felt his fever, which was still very high.

Rythian sighed again and closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall and trying to get to sleep.

**XXX**

The next morning, Rythian woke up five minutes before Lalna did.

The Mage had only just woken up enough to stand when Lalna started to move.

Both Rythian and Golem – the latter having been sleeping on Lalna's chest but waking up at the sound of his increasing heartbeat – leaned down by the scientist. Golem went and sat at his side, while Rythian began to undo the bandages, planning on changing them before Lalna woke up.

However, just before he even managed to reach the first layer of bandages, Lalna blinked his bright purple eyes open and dizzily looked around. He was still breathing with difficulty, and his skin was still blue, but it wasn't quite as bad as the day before. More of his hair was dark today.

“Hey Lalna,” said Rythian, leaning into the scientist's line of sight, feeling so relieved that he was awake yet at the same time terrified of how he would react. He had already covered his arm with his lab coat.

Lalna's eyes were unfocused.

“Wha-...” he mumbled, “what happened...?”

“Well, the thing is...” said Rythian, hesitating. There was no way he could explain this gently.

Lalna immediately picked up on his hesitation, and his eyes focused a bit more.

“Rythian...” he said quietly, his voice laced with worry, “what happened?”

“Well... your-”

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, because as he spoke, Lalna moved to sit up, but he fell to the side, unable to fully support himself. Gasping in shock and pain, Lalna pulled away his lab coat and saw his bloody, bandaged, amputated arm.

Crying out in shock, he sat bolt upright and scrambled back against the wall, clutching his arm. He started hyperventilating and shaking, and his eyes started glowing brighter while a bit more of his hair darkened.

“No no no no no...” he muttered, staring at the bloody end of his arm. “Not again...”

It took Rythian a minute to remember that Lalna had also lost his left arm in the explosion that had destroyed the Old World. Rythian could only imagine what it would be like to lose both arms, one to an explosion and one to an infection.

“Lalna-” Rythian started to say, but the scientist didn't want to hear it. He grabbed one of his boots and flung it at the Mage. It hit him in the chest, even though he could have easily avoided it or caught it.

“Leave me alone!” he shouted, painfully scrambling into the corner of the room and curling up against the wall, his back to Rythian.

Rythian sighed. He had hoped Lalna would understand, but either way it would take time.

Lalna spent the next hour sitting against the wall, trembling and gasping. Rythian, who had moved to the other side of the room to give Lalna some privacy, was preparing their supplies, since they had to get to a better location where nothing could sneak up on them. Golem sat uncertainly in the middle of the room, not sure what to do.

Finally, when Rythian had finished getting everything ready, he took out a roll of bandages – and Lalna's boot – and cautiously walked over to Lalna, who didn't acknowledge him.

“Okay, look,” said Rythian, kneeling down next to the scientist and setting down the boot. “We need to keep moving, and I need to change your bandages. I know you're pissed at me for cutting off your arm, but if I didn't, you probably would have died.”

Lalna was quiet for so long that Rythian was about to give up.

“I know...” he suddenly said, his voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper. He turned a bit so that Rythian could see his face. “But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be pissed about it.”

Rythian could clearly see that Lalna had been crying, judging by how bloodshot his eyes were and the trails the tears had left on his dirt covered face. His skin was still tinged blue, signaling that he had barely recovered at all from the blood loss.

Rythian smiled sadly, but the gesture was lost behind his mask. He held up the bandages, and Lalna sighed and turned fully around, holding out his right arm.

Rythian carefully unwound the completely blood-soaked bandages, revealing the horribly disfigured and blistered wound. Lalna took one look at it before quickly turning his head away and closing his eyes. He started shaking even harder, and his breathing became more forced. For a second, Rythian thought he was going to vomit.

He tossed the ruined bandages aside and started to carefully wrap up the wound again.

“So...” he said as he worked, “you mentioned a while ago that you lost your left arm...”

Lalna glared at him. “If you're trying to take my mind off of what's happening right now, it isn't working.”

Rythian ignored that comment. “You said you made yourself a new arm, so can't you do it again?”

Lalna laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, the only problem was that I tried to give the formula to grow new limbs to the public, but as you can probably guess, the government took it and wiped my memory of how to recreate it.”

“Why would they do that?” asked Rythian, confused.

“I don't know,” muttered Lalna. “They said something about me _trying to play god_ and then I forgot everything. That's one of the reasons I didn't offer to give Zoeya a new arm.”

Rythian raised an eyebrow. “So if we get out of here, what are you going to do?”

Lalna shrugged absently. “I'll do what I always do. Replace the missing part with a homemade piece.”

The way Lalna said that worried Rythian. It sounded like he had been through this before, and it made the Mage wonder how many prosthetics Lalna actually had, and if that was the reason he was so fond of his lab coat and gloves. Something that would hide the scars.

Rythian quietly finished bandaging his arm before sitting back.

“We have to get moving,” he said. “Do you think you can walk?”

Lalna slowly nodded. Rythian stood and held out his hand, which Lalna took. The Mage pulled him to his feet, and almost instantly, he fell over, his face becoming dead pale. Rythian caught him and held him upright.

A split second later, Lalna doubled over and vomited, holding onto Rythian's shoulder for support. Most of what he coughed out was blood.

After a minute, it was over, and Rythian was feeling pretty sick himself. Both of their shoes were covered in blood and bile.

“Sorry...” muttered Lalna weakly.

Rythian nodded a bit. “Let's just get out of here.”

He walked to the far wall, supporting Lalna the whole way, and took out a pick. He quickly cleared away the wall and made an exit, but he and Lalna both jumped when they were met with a large group of Pigmen, all standing in the corridor, waiting for them.

Suddenly, Golem, who had been lingering behind the two, rushed forward to greet the group. The baby spoke to the older Pigman in their strange language before returning to Lalna and Rythian's side.

“Any idea what's going on?” asked Rythian quietly.

“I think,” said Lalna, “they're here to help us. Look.” He gestured to the floor. Lying at the Pigmen's feet were black bones and charcoal. They had killed the Wither skeletons that had come by in the night.

Rythian looked at the scientist, who nodded, and they walked forward, Lalna leaning heavily against the Mage. The Pigmen stepped aside, and they all formed a protective ring around them. Golem was holding on to Lalna's pant leg.

The group walked deeper into the Nether fortress.

**XXX**

Lomadia leaned against a sandstone pillar, wiping the blood off of her sword. She had wiped out half of the cultists before the others even knew what was going on.

It had been bloody, but most of the cultist scientists were dead, and none of her friends had even gotten a scratch.

The scientists, led by Dr. Srivaramen, came down and were working on reactivating the portal.

All they had to do was wait.

Ridge and Nano were searching through the supplies. Sips and Sjin were off wandering around.

Lomadia saw that Nano was brewing potions, and Ridge was creating several pairs of boots that looked enchanted. He was also making oxygen masks and hazmat suits.

Lomadia sighed a bit. She knew that they were just preparing for whatever was left in the Old World.

She just hoped her friends beyond the portals were okay.

She continued to wait.

**XXX**

It only took two hours for them to explore and map out the rest of the fortress. Of course, they had to stop twice for Lalna to throw up, and several more times for him to simply catch his breath or regain feeling in his feet. All the blood he had lost was really affecting him. Rythian was just glad they had the Pigmen on their side, especially after they encountered a couple Wither skeletons, which the Pigmen quickly dispatched.

Just after they had decided on a place to set up their permanent camp, Lalna collapsed and couldn't get back up. When Rythian finally managed to get him to his feet, he lost consciousness, and Rythian had to carry him. His arm was bleeding again.

Finally, they reached a large tower that overlooked the ocean of lava. It was against a wall of Netherrack on almost all sides, and with only one way up, it was pretty easily defensible.

Rythian gently laid Lalna upright against the wall so that he could breathe easier. His bandages were soaked again, and Rythian was running out of fresh ones.

Lalna's skin was still tinged blue from the lack of blood, and he only had a few streaks of blond hair left as almost all of the energy in his crystal was being focused on trying to heal his arm, which for some reason refused to heal.

Rythian sighed and sat down next to Lalna. Golem joined them and curled up in Lalna's lap.

Rythian knew if their friends didn't find a way to rescue them soon, Lalna was going to die.


	5. Return

There was no oxygen left in the Old World, it seemed.

The second they went through the portal, Xephos nearly collapsed, and he was doubled over coughing until one of the scientists put an oxygen mask on him. Looking around, Xephos saw that Honeydew and the scientists had on oxygen masks as well.

The stories Lalna had told him about this place were true. It was nothing but a wasteland.

They had come through the portal in front of two enormous craters. They were surrounded by trees that had been burnt to a crisp, and far in the distance, they could see the hollow shells of houses and buildings.

This had been the battleground between Lalna and Sjin.

Xephos was shocked at how extensive the destruction was. The crater where Sjin's house used to be was enormous, but it wasn't as impressive as the one where Lalna's house used to be.

“I guess a nuclear meltdown is stronger than two nukes,” Xephos muttered to Honeydew, who simply nodded in awe.

One of the thugs behind them shoved them. “Keep moving, and enough with the talking,” he snarled.

They began trekking around the craters. They stepped over the remains of building materials and machine bits. There was even a tower made of stone brick that they had to climb over – it was laying completely on its side – and that tower was still radiating with magic.

The air all around them was thick with radiation. It made Xephos' hair stand on end and his skin crawl. He started to taste blood.

“There,” Professor Brightmeer suddenly said, pointing up to a large obsidian platform on top of a hill. There was a portal in the center of that platform.

It was still lit.

The large scientists dragged Honeydew and Xephos up the hill, and they all gathered in front of it.

“Take one last good look around,” said Brightmeer, turning to Honeydew and Xephos. “This will be your last time seeing the sun.” The actual sun was obscured by all the smog and debris, but they could tell it was sunset judging by the blood red color of the sky. “This is also what the world will look like after Israphel returns.”

With an evil laugh, he went through the portal, and they were forced to follow.

After the nauseating act of teleporting, Xephos and Honeydew found themselves standing in front of Israphel's crumbling fortress. Half of the fortress had already collapsed into the lava sea.

While Honeydew and Xephos trembled in fear, one of the scientists went up to Professor Brightmeer.

“Sir, I don't think sacrificing the spaceman and dwarf will be enough to bring the dark lord back,” said the scientist.

Brightmeer nodded. “I know,” he said. “We'll need a third sacrifice. One just as powerful as our two hostages.”

“How do we find a third sacrifice?”

Brightmeer pointed at the trail of cobblestone and torches that Rythian had left.

“We follow that. It'll lead us right to them.”

“What about the spaceman and dwarf?” asked the scientist. “What do we do with them?”

“We'll have to take them with us,” said Brightmeer. “Once we have all three, we can sacrifice them then and there. And if you find my nephew, leave him. He's mine to kill.”

The scientist nodded and backed off.

Professor Brightmeer then turned and followed the trail deeper into the Nether, his group of scientists following him and dragging Xephos and Honeydew behind them.

**XXX**

Rythian gasped and sat bolt upright. He had been having another nightmare. In this one, there had been people hunting him down for his magic. Though it was a nightmare he commonly experienced, it always scared him.

With a sigh, he rubbed his eyes and sat away from the wall. He had just been dozing off, exhausted mentally and physically from the stress of being trapped and worrying if Lalna was going to make it.

Speaking of the scientist...

Rythian looked over at Lalna, who was sitting upright against the adjacent wall. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, even though it was boiling hot. He was looking off into the distance, his eyes glowing purple. His amulet flickered weakly, his skin was washed of color except the slight blue tinge from his blood loss, and his red lab coat was stained even darker around the arm. Rythian saw that his bandages needed changing. They were running so low on bandages now.

Rythian stood up, and Lalna turned to him.

“Someone's here...” he said quietly, his voice hoarse.

Rythian's eyes widened. “Is it the others?” he asked frantically. “Did they find a way back? Did they cause the eruption?”

Lalna shook his head slowly. “I don't know,” he said. “You're the Mage, use your magic to see.”

Rythian ignored his bitter sarcasm and leaned against the low wall of the tower, looking out towards the general direction of the portal and the crumbling fortress.

It was difficult for him to see due to the fact that he was still too far from the End for his magic to be at full power, but he thought he could see several figures. They were coming towards them quickly.

“I think it's them!” he exclaimed happily.

When the scientist didn't respond, he turned and looked at him.

Lalna was staring dejectedly at nothing. He looked so tired and worn out. Golem was sitting curled up against his left side, and he was absently scratching him behind the ear. The little Pigman looked up at the scientist, his eyes wide with worry.

“Lalna? What's wrong?” asked Rythian, slowly turning and leaning his back against the wall so that he could face the scientist.

Lalna didn't move for a long time. Finally, he took a deep, pained breath and looked up at Rythian with glassy eyes.

“I can't walk anymore,” said Lalna, his voice cracking a bit.

Rythian's eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“I tried while you were sleeping,” he said. “I couldn't even stand up straight. I mean, I could stand, but it hurt. And I couldn't walk. I can barely move my legs.” Lalna stopped talking and started to cough. It was such a violent fit that he doubled over, and Rythian had to hold onto his shoulder to keep him upright.

Finally, the fit ended, and Lalna sat upright again. Blood was dripping from his mouth.

“Are you okay?” asked Rythian quietly.

Lalna nodded once. “I'm fine...” he choked out. “There's just... blood everywhere...”

“Speaking of which...” Rythian gestured to the remainder of Lalna's arm.

“We're gonna run out of bandages,” said Lalna, hesitating.

“Yeah, but the others are here, and they'll take us home,” said Rythian. “And besides, if you don't let me change the bandages, it'll get infected.”

Lalna sighed and lethargically pulled the blanket and lab coat down and held out his arm. He closed his eyes, not willing to look at his mutilated arm.

When Rythian unwound the bandages, he saw that the lower half of Lalna's arm was swollen and red, and there was pus and blood oozing out of the wound. He quickly cleaned it as well as he could, ignoring Lalna's pained cursing. Then he bandaged it again. Whenever his hand came in contact with Lalna's skin, he could feel just how high his fever was.

The wound was slowly becoming infected. If they ran out of clean bandages, the infection would surely set in, and he wouldn't have long after that. If the infection and blood loss didn't take his life, the fever would.

Rythian just hoped his friends hurried.

**XXX**

Time passed slowly in the Labs. Finally, only after the sun had gone down, the scientists got the portal working.

Ridge had been handing everyone a special helmet and pairs of boots when Dr. Srivaramen came running over.

“Sir, it appears we have the portal working again!” he exclaimed.

Ridge nodded. “We'll be ready to go through in a minute.”

The doctor nodded and ran back to the portal.

“Okay guys,” said Ridge, turning to the others, “the Old World is dangerous and hostile. The air is poisonous, so make sure you've got these on.” He held up the helmet. Inside was a mouthpiece, and there were small air tanks on the part of the helmet that came down on the back.

“I also made these,” he said, gesturing to the boots he and everybody else was wearing. “They'll let you run faster so that we'll have a chance to catch up to the scientists.”

“Is everybody ready?” asked Lomadia. She was met with tense nods. “Then let's stop wasting time and go.”

They all went over to the portal, putting on their helmets on the way.

Ridge went through the portal first, followed closely by Lomadia and Nano, then Sips and Sjin.

The Old World was cold and dark. A thick poisonous fog hung over the moonlit land. The sun had only just set. There wasn't a living creature to be seen.

“There!” exclaimed Sips, pointing to the large obsidian platform with the portal on it.

They ran for the platform, Sips having to drag Sjin along behind him, because he was having flashbacks to the battle and how much destruction he had caused.

When they reached the platform, they didn't stop. They simply ran straight through the portal and appeared in the Nether in front of the fortress.

As soon as they were through, they took off their oxygen masks and left them next to the portal. Sjin stumbled off to the side and vomited, nauseous from the two consecutive teleports.

“How do we find the cultists?” asked Nano, looking around.

Ridge was looking at something in the distance: a short stack of cobblestone with a torch on top.

“I'm guessing we follow the trail,” said Ridge.

“Who do you think left that trail?” asked Lomadia.

Ridge squinted at it. “Judging by all the burns on it, those markers have been here for more than a few hours. I think Rythian and Lalna left it.”

“And the cultists are following their trail too,” said Nano, her eyes widening in fear.

Ridge nodded. He gestured for Sips to get Sjin. “We're running out of time,” he said. “Their only chance is for us to catch up to the cultists.”

“Then what are we wasting time here for?” asked Lomadia before turning and taking off, following the trail.


	6. Good and Evil

They were gaining on the cultists. The boots Ridge had given them made them faster. 

Unlike Lalna and Rythian, they were all relatively healthy and strong, so they were able to cover a lot more ground in a faster time. They passed the Nether bunker after an hour.

They were close, but they were already too late.

**XXX**

The cultists reached the Nether fortress only five minutes before the others.

“The path ends here,” said Brightmeer. “They're in there somewhere. Remember, capture, don't kill. We need one of them alive.”

The he turned and, with his bare fist, punched a hole through the Nether brick wall.

Xephos and Honeydew stood there wide-eyed.

“What kind of drugs is he on...?” Honeydew whispered to Xephos, who only shook his head.

The cultist behind them gave them both a rough shove. “Quiet, you two,” he snarled.

Professor Brightmeer turned back to Honeydew and Xephos, only just remembering they were there.

“Now, we don't need you two getting in the way,” said Brightmeer. He looked at the large scientist. “Chain them up and keep guard. We'll be back in a few minutes.”

The giant scientist nodded. He roughly grabbed the two and chained them back to back.

Brightmeer nodded, and he turned and led the remaining cultists into the fortress.

Rythian saw the whole thing from his position in the tower. His eyes were wide, and his face was pale.

“Lalna, we're in some deep shit...” he said to the unresponsive scientist.

With a gulp, Rythian took out his sword and went down the stairs to the single corridor that led to the tower. It was the only way up, so if the cultists wanted to get to them, there was only one way they could go.

Rythian turned to all the Pigmen that were loitering around. They turned to him, and when they saw that Golem had followed him, they relaxed.

“I need your help,” said Rythian, Golem standing behind him and translating. “There are evil people here who are probably trying to kill us. They're all in white lab coats.” He made sure to say that they were wearing white lab coats, because Lalna was wearing a red one.

The Pigmen understood, and they all gathered along the length of the bridge. Rythian turned to Golem, who scampered back up the stairs to stay with Lalna.

Rythian stayed in the entrance to the tower. If the Pigmen failed, he was the last defense. He would rather go out fighting than be captured.

And if he was going to die, he was determined to take as many cultists as possible with him.

**XXX**

The others arrived minutes after the cultists had entered the fortress. They ducked behind a mound of Netherrack when they saw the large scientist.

“Guys, look,” whispered Lomadia, pointing. They looked and saw Xephos and Honeydew chained back to back, sitting on the ground near the large scientist.

“I've got a plan,” whispered Ridge. “Nano, sneak over there and see if you can free them. Sips, Sjin, keep the big guy distracted. Lomadia and I will sneak up behind him and kill him.”

“What could possibly go wrong...?” muttered Sips.

A few minutes later, Nano had snuck over and hidden behind a mound of Netherrack close to where Honeydew and Xephos were chained.

Sips and Sjin ran out into the open and started throwing dirt at the giant cultist. The big guy jumped to his feet with surprising agility and took out a sword.

Sips mooned him.

While the cultist was distracted running towards Sips and Sjin, Nano crept forward until Honeydew saw her.

The dwarf nudged his friend, who looked over his shoulder and saw Nano.

“Need a hand?” she whispered. She crawled forward and picked up the lock holding the chains. She tried to remember what Ridge had taught her about unlocking things, but it was difficult to concentrate under the pressure of being caught.

Suddenly, they heard a yell. The scientist had noticed them and was running towards them.

That was when Xephos' hands and eyes began to glow gold. A split second later, the lock clicked open and the chains fell loose.

They scattered and ran for the others. Nano glanced over and saw Xephos spawn in a diamond sword without seeming to realize it.

They all gathered in front of the small cliff over the ocean of lava. They grouped together, facing the steroid infused cultist.

He ran towards them full speed, a mountain of flesh and muscle.

At the last second, without so much as a command, they all jumped out of the way.

All of them except Ridge.

A split second before the scientist grabbed him, he dropped to the ground. The scientist tripped over him and, unable to stop in time, he plunged head first off the cliff and into the lava.

However, when he tripped, his foot kicked Ridge hard in the shoulder, knocking him backwards. He slid over the edge of the cliff, unable to grab anything to stop his fall.

He fell over the cliff and towards the lava.

Then he stopped.

Looking up, he saw that Xephos was leaning half off the cliff. He had grabbed Ridge's arm.

“I got him,” said Xephos breathlessly, glancing over his shoulder. He grimaced in pain as his previously dislocated and injured shoulder was stressed. Someone pulled Xephos back, and Ridge came with him. They pulled him up to the edge and several pairs of hands grabbed him and dragged him back onto solid ground.

Ridge stood up, and he noticed he was shaking. It wasn't his first near death experience, but it was one of the worse ones. He could help but be rattled, especially because of his fear of fire.

“T-thanks...” he said breathlessly, forcing himself to regain his composure and steady his voice and breathing. His heart was still racing though. “Now let's go.”

They ran into the fortress after the cultists.

**XXX**

Not two minutes after Rythian came down from the tower, on the opposite side of the long bridge, he saw the cultists appear. There were about twenty of them total.

The Pigmen swarmed them, and screams echoed through the air.

Rythian winced at all the blood flying everywhere. Then he realized that more Pigmen were being cut down than scientists.

Another minute later, only several scientists remained, but all the Pigmen were dead.

Rythian gulped and ran forward. The cultists charged against him.

The bridge was too narrow for more than one cultist at a time, so Rythian had them bottlenecked.

He cut down the first few before one of them disarmed him and sent his sword over the edge and into the ocean of bubbling lava below.

A moment later, Rythian sent that scientist in after his sword.

The remaining few cultists were staying back. Suddenly, two of them charged.

Rythian shot his magic. The one in the front was hit, but he kept going. He grabbed Rythian by the throat, while the other scientist attempted to climb up on the rail and get past them.

Starting to get tunnel vision from the lack of oxygen, Rythian put his hand on the man's face and used his magic to burn him. The man screamed and let go of the Mage, stumbling backwards and knocking himself and his friend off the bridge, where they fell into the lava and burned.

Suddenly, an arrow flew past Rythian's shoulder. He turned and looked at the archer, who was standing only a few meters out on the bridge.

Rythian snarled at him. He had exhausted a lot of his magic burning that man, and because of that, there was a lot of flux that had built up inside of him. It was starting to hurt, and if he hadn't been born with his magic, he would have been poisoned by it.

He released the flux and shot it at the archer.

It hit him straight on. The man dropped his bow and began screaming. His hair turned black and his skin turned gray, his limbs stiffened, and then his skin began to peel off. His eyes hemorrhaged in an explosion of blood, and his screams turned into a horrible crackling moan. His limbs slowly started to fall off, and he dropped to the ground, convulsing and moaning until he was nothing more than a lab coat and a pile of gray dust.

Rythian shuddered. He had forgotten how dangerous flux could be to someone with no magic left in them.

Suddenly, something rounded the corner. Rythian stared wide-eyed at the giant man in the tightly fitting lab coat. He was at least two feet taller than Rythian, and he was three times as wide. The bridge cracked a bit when he stepped on it. He was holding an enormous hammer.

Rythian gulped and pulled out a dagger. The words _“boss fight”_ rang out in his mind.

The giant charged at him. The path was too narrow for Rythian to get out of the way, and if he jumped up on the side, he would be a prime target.

He ran towards the giant, and just before the giant got to him, he teleported.

Or at least he tried to.

He didn't have enough magic left to teleport.

He was so shocked by this that he didn't dodge the giant's attack.

The giant backhanded him with the hammer and sent him flying backwards. He hit the ground hard and spit blood, which stained his mask. The giant had broken several ribs and dislocated his left shoulder.

Rythian pulled himself upright, winded both from the impact and the pain. He snapped his shoulder back into its socket, and he painfully pulled himself back to his feet, even though he felt like someone had poured lava all over his chest. He coughed up more blood.

The giant was coming closer.

Gripping his dagger tightly, he ran forward again. The giant saw him trying to pull the same stunt, so he swung his hammer in a long arc around.

Rythian dropped to his knees and slid under the path of the hammer. He went between the giant's legs and ended up behind him.

Nearly screaming from the pain, he twisted around and jumped up, clinging to the giant's back. The giant flailed and turned, trying to get him off.

Rythian stabbed the giant in the neck. The giant stopped moving, and it let out a horrible bloody screech before dropping to the ground.

With a shuddering, rattling breath, Rythian pulled his dagger out of the giant's neck. However, when he stood up and turned around, he came face to face with Professor Brightmeer.

Rythian didn't even have time to be shocked before the professor's hand touched his forehead and a blast of electricity went through him, effectively temporarily stunning him.

“Chain him up,” said Brightmeer, turning and looking at the remaining few scientists who had lingered back.

Rythian was so disoriented from the shock that he didn't even realize that his arms were being chained behind his back. He struggled, but one of the scientists yanked on the chain and stressed his wounded shoulder.

Brightmeer stood in front of him. His arms were crossed and he looked smug.

“Excellent,” he said to the scientist next to him. “Now I've only got one loose end to tie up.”

Brightmeer pulled out a dagger and walked towards the tower. However, right when he was at the entrance, he turned and looked over his shoulder at Rythian.

“Bring him too,” he told the scientist holding Rythian. “He might want to see this.”

Rythian was pulled to his feet and dragged along. He was too exhausted and nauseous and in too much pain to really fight back. All he could manage was a quiet string of curses.

Brightmeer went up the stairs and emerged on the top of the tower. He smiled menacingly when he saw Lalna slumped over in the corner unconscious.

He started to walk towards him when something slammed into his leg.

Stumbling backwards and looking down, he saw the baby Pigman clinging to his leg and tearing the flesh off of it.

He quickly shook the Pigman off his leg and kicked it. The little Pigman flew backwards and hit the wall hard. It whimpered and tried to crawl away.

“Oh no you don't,” muttered Brightmeer, walking up to the Pigman. He raised his dagger to kill it.

Suddenly, a blast of magic hit him in the right shoulder, right in the joint between his arm and shoulder. It was a weak blast, so it only numbed his shoulder, and he didn't even drop his dagger. He stumbled away from the Pigman and looked at who had shot him.

Lalna was awake. He was leaning forward with his legs tucked under him, supporting himself with his left arm. His nose was bleeding and his eyes were glowing purple. His hair had turned black and his skin was slowly becoming more pallid.

And he looked pissed.

Brightmeer chuckled and strolled towards Lalna, forgetting about Golem.

“It's been a long time, hasn't it, Lalna?” he asked menacingly.

“Obviously not long enough,” growled Lalna, his voice scratchy and rough.

“I see you had a little accident,” said Brightmeer, gesturing to Lalna's arm, which he was holding close to his chest.

“Fuck off,” snarled Lalna, struggling to breathe through his rage and pain.

Brightmeer chuckled. Glancing over, he saw that Rythian and the cultists were off to the side watching. Rythian was looking at Lalna with wide, terrified eyes.

Brightmeer smiled, knowing that the Mage would see everything that happened next.

Suddenly, Brightmeer stooped over and grabbed Lalna by the throat. Then, with surprising strength for someone his age, he picked Lalna up by the throat and held him an inch above the ground.

Lalna gasped and grabbed the hand holding his throat to keep from being strangled. He didn't struggle though. He didn't have the energy to spare. It was all focused on keeping the pressure off his throat.

“Having trouble breathing?” asked Brightmeer mockingly.

Lalna glared at him, not wanting to waste the energy to speak.

Brightmeer chuckled. “Here's the thing,” he said. “We are going to bring Israphel back. You may not know this, but Israphel's brother trapped him in the Void.”

A questioning look appeared on Lalna's face.

“You didn't know?” asked Brightmeer mockingly. “That demigod that always follows you around is the brother of the Dark Lord.”

Lalna tried to conceal the look of shock and realization, but he couldn't.

Brightmeer chuckled. “I was hoping for a more dramatic reaction, but that'll do. As I was saying, we're going to bring Israphel back. We're going to sacrifice Xephos, Honeydew, and your Mage friend here. I just thought you'd like to know before I killed you. There's nothing you can do to save your friends.”

For some reason, Lalna didn't look particularly worried. Instead, he rolled his eyes and choked out in a sarcastic tone, “Enough with the fucking monologuing.”

Brightmeer glared at him and lifted his dagger, holding it with a bit of difficulty right above Lalna's face. He was having trouble moving his arm at the shoulder because that was where Lalna had struck him with magic.

Lalna suddenly looked less smug with the dagger hovering over his face.

“Are you familiar with the phrase _“An eye for an eye”_?” he asked. “You were the reason I lost my eye. You couldn't control the Enderbeast.”

“You... poisoned... me...” Lalna stammered out. “I didn't... have... a choice...”

“You did have a choice,” snarled Brightmeer. “After you discovered what a monster you were, you didn't destroy yourself. That was your chance, and you didn't take it. You didn't stop the Beast.”

Lalna closed his eyes, still struggling for breath.

“It's our job to make sure no Enderbeast is breathing by the time Israphel arrives.”

“Not... breathing... now...” stammered Lalna, a smug smile threatening to appear on his face.

Brightmeer's expression became impossibly colder.

“You're an abomination,” he growled. “I intend to tie up all loose ends.”

He held the dagger so close that it touched his skin, and Lalna could see his own reflection.

“So what do you say, Lalna?” he asked. “An eye for an eye...?”

Lalna was impossibly still, looking at the dagger.

“How about...” he said slowly, “... an arm for an arm...”

With shocking speed, Lalna let go of the hand holding his throat and grabbed the hand holding the dagger.

Then, using every last ounce of strength, he quickly pulled his legs up and planted them on Brightmeer's chest.

With an iron grip on Brightmeer's weakened arm, he pushed his feet against his chest and pulled his arm back.

There was a horrible cracking and ripping sound. Blood sprayed everywhere, and there was a piercing scream from Brightmeer.

Lalna fell to the ground, and Brightmeer stumbled back before falling, bleeding profusely. Off to the side, the other scientists all screamed or staggered backwards. Rythian felt the urge to vomit.

Lalna had ripped Brightmeer's arm off at the shoulder.

The severed hand was still holding the knife.

That was when Lalna forced himself to his feet. He took several clumsy steps towards Brightmeer, who was slumped against the wall, convulsing and trying to stop the blood from spewing from his empty shoulder socket.

Brightmeer looked up at Lalna, his eyes wild with pain and rage.

Then he let out a horrible scream filled with nothing but anger and hatred.

Lalna decided to silence him.

He swung the arm at him. The knife, which was still clenched in the severed hand, hit Brightmeer in the neck. It slit his throat.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and he was silent.

Lalna dropped the arm and stumbled backwards. He looked at Rythian. And then he collapsed.

Behind him, Rythian heard one of the scientists whisper “Kill him.”

Several cultists ran towards Lalna.

An arrow flew out of nowhere and slammed into the skulls of one of the scientists. He dropped to the ground.

Suddenly, Ridge, Lomadia, Nano, Xephos, Honeydew, Sips, and Sjin appeared, weapons drawn.

The fight lasted only a minute before the remaining cultists were dead. Blood was everywhere. Two severed heads were laying on the ground.

Someone unlocked Rythian's chains, and he stumbled to his feet and ran over to Lalna.

Ridge was kneeling down next to the unconscious scientist. One hand was pressed against his forehead, and the other hand was holding his wrist.

“Okay,” he said, “we've got to get out of here.”

“How did you get here in the first place?” asked Rythian, kneeling down as well, breathless from the pain in his ribs.

“We'll explain later,” said Ridge, taking his hands away. He then held his hand an inch over Lalna's chest, and a golden light ran over the scientist. It faded away a second later, but flecks of golden magic still swirled around him.

“What did you just do?” asked Xephos, who was standing next to Ridge.

“I put him in stasis,” said Ridge. “It won't last long, so we have to get out of here before it wears off.” As he said this, he picked Lalna up and held him in his arms. Lomadia and Nano helped Rythian to his feet, and they supported him as he walked out.

As they left, Golem appeared next to Honeydew, who jumped a bit at the sudden appearance.

“Don't hurt him,” said Rythian over his shoulder. “He's a friend.”

Honeydew looked down at the innocent little Pigman. Then he shrugged and picked him up.

They all left the fortress and made their way back through the Nether, towards the portal.

The nightmare was finally over.


	7. All the Lights in the Sky

Wherever he was when he woke up, it was cold. There was a lot of light, and it hurt his head.

He simply laid there for a moment, regaining control of his senses. He could hear a quiet beeping noise that sounded close. Wherever he was smelled like rubbing alcohol and antibacterial cleaner. He slowly realized he was laying on something soft. He moved his hand – his left hand; he couldn't remember why his right hand wouldn't move – and felt that he was under a blanket.

Slowly, his frazzled mind put the pieces together. He was in a hospital.

He slowly let the memories return to him. He remembered why he couldn't move his right hand – it had succumbed to necrosis and gangrene, and Rythian had to cut it off to save his life. He remembered the cultists finding them.

He wished he didn't remember what he did to Brightmeer.

But what had happened after that?

Slowly, he remembered seeing Ridge. Then Ridge did something to him and all the pain disappeared. He must have put him in stasis to prevent the fever or infection from hurting him further.

Slowly, he forced himself to open his eyes.

He simply looked around. He was in a plain white room. There were curtains on either side of the bed, giving him some privacy. He was hooked up to a heart rate monitor, which explained the beeping noise.

Looking down, he saw his shirt and lab coat were gone. His shoulder was bandaged, as was his right arm, or what he could see of it. It was still covered by the blanket. He didn't want to look at it.

He took a deep breath, but the cool air stung his lungs. He still wasn't quite used to a temperature that wasn't lava hot.

He simply lay there staring at the ceiling for a few more minutes. However, just as he was beginning to fall asleep, the door opened and two people quietly walked in.

It was Zoeya and Rythian.

They both jumped and rushed over to him when they saw he was awake.

“Lalna!” exclaimed Zoeya, hugging him. “We thought you'd never wake up!”

Lalna smiled a bit. “How... how long was I out?” he asked.

Rythian glanced around. “Uh... about three weeks.”

Lalna's eye twitched a bit, but he shook it off. He had been in a coma for longer before.

“Is everyone else okay?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

Rythian nodded. “I'm fine, and so is everybody else.”

“What happened?” he asked, turning to look at Zoeya. “How did you guys find us?”

“You'll have to ask Lomadia or Ridge or Nano for all the details,” said Zoeya. “I'm actually surprised Nano isn't here right now. She hardly left when you were unconscious.”

Lalna blushed. “Really?” he stammered a bit.

Zoeya nodded, smiling widely.

“Uh, anyways, where are we right now?” asked Lalna, looking around.

“Promise not to freak out if we tell you,” said Zoeya.

Lalna nodded.

“We're in YogLabs,” said Zoeya.

“What?!”

“It's okay though!” exclaimed Rythian. “All the crazy evil scientists are dead or imprisoned. The good guys are in charge now... I think...”

Slowly, Lalna nodded. He shifted a bit, his arm starting to feel uncomfortable. He recognized the feeling as phantom pain from his missing arm.

“Are you okay?” asked Zoeya, noticing his discomfort.

Lalna nodded a bit. “I'm fine,” he said. “It's just... my arm...”

Surprisingly, Zoeya's eyes lit up. “Oh, I almost forgot!” She quickly pressed the button on the side of the bed that moved Lalna into a slightly more upright position.

“What is it?” asked Lalna.

Zoeya smiled. “I built you a new arm!” she exclaimed.

Lalna's eyes widened. “Really?”

She nodded eagerly. Then she reached over and pulled the blankets down, revealing his arm.

Hooked onto the end of his arm was a metal robotic hand.

Zoeya reached over and pressed a small button on the side of his arm. Lalna got a small shock from it, but then he was able to move it. He held the arm – his arm – up and examined it. It was in the same design as his power glove.

“How am I controlling it?” he asked, staring at his hand.

Zoeya handed him a mirror, and she pointed to his left temple. He looked and saw, once he pushed his hair back, there were two translucent diodes attached to his temple.

“They transmit signals from your nervous system to your arm,” said Zoeya. “It's a much more efficient way than using transmitters in the actual arm, because now you can take the arm off.”

Lalna spent the next ten minutes thanking her.

After a few more minutes, Rythian decided it was time for them to leave. It was late after all, and the only reason they had come this late was to make sure Nano had gone to sleep.

Lalna was so tired from the pain medication he could barely smile at them. As soon as they left, he was asleep.

The next morning, he woke up to the sound of two very familiar voices.

Opening his eyes, he saw Ridge and Lomadia, one on each side of the bed.

He just barely got the words “Hey guys” out before Lomadia hugged him.

“Lalna, don't you dare scare me like that again!” she exclaimed.

Lalna let out a small laugh and hugged her back. He realized that the last time he saw her in person was just after his big fight with an Israphel possessed Rythian.

It had been a long time since he hugged his sister.

When she stepped back, he looked up at Ridge, who smiled. It wasn't a threatening or dangerous smile either. It was a genuine friendly smile.

“Thanks,” said Lalna. “I really owe you guys.”

Lomadia laughed a bit. “Yeah, you do. Now let me go find Honeydew and Xephos,” she said before running off.

As soon as the door closed, Lalna turned to Ridge, his expression becoming darker.

“Ridge,” he said quietly, “are you really related to Israphel...?”

Ridge's expression darkened. “I'm guessing Brightmeer told you, right?”

Lalna nodded.

Ridge looked down at the floor and bit his lip, looking nervous. “Yeah, we're brothers. Or at least... we're the same species. Creatures created once every thousand years or so from flux. Israphel was actually my mentor.”

“Why didn't you tell anybody?” asked Lalna, even though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

Ridge rolled his eyes. “You, Xephos, and Lomadia are literally the only ones who aren't afraid of me,” he said. “Rythian and Honeydew know, and neither of them can even look me in the eye.”

“Right...” said Lalna quietly.

Ridge sighed a bit and glanced towards the door.

“I should probably go,” he said. “I'll give you guys some privacy.” Then he disappeared.

Not two second later, Honeydew and Xephos burst through the door, followed by Lomadia. They ran over to him, and Honeydew actually jumped up on the bed and hugged him. Xephos piled on, wrapping his long arms around both of them. They were both talking so fast that Lalna couldn't understand them.

After they calmed down, things were a bit more under control. The three of them caught Lalna up on what had happened. They explained – with some difficulty – how they made it to the Nether and back. They told Lalna that the portal to the Old World had been destroyed once they returned, and he was very relieved about that.

After a while, Honeydew got them off subject, and they ended up laughing about one thing or another.

For that moment, Lalna forgot about all the horrible things he had been through. He simply enjoyed the moment with his friends.

**XXX**

The only thing about moments is that they don't last. Things change. People move on.

That's exactly what happened three weeks later.

The only thing that hadn't been destroyed in the original attack was Lalna's castle. Everything else was in ruin.

Nobody had the heart to rebuild. So everybody was moving on.

Except Lalna.

Almost everybody else had left. They'd all moved on to other places.

He hadn't gotten to say goodbye to most of the people that left. They simply vanished.

He had gotten to say goodbye to Rythian and Zoeya. They were both going away to find some place safe to raise their son.

Lalna never thought he would actually get emotional seeing Rythian leave, but after what they went through in the Nether, saving each others lives, it was difficult.

They promised to keep in touch.

At the moment, he was standing in the open gates of his castle. The force field had broken as soon as he touched it.

That's because it knew the world was safe again.

So he stood there. The gates were open, but he would have to close them soon, since the sun was setting.

He was saying goodbye to Xephos, Lomadia, and Honeydew.

“So what are you guys going to do now?” asked Lalna, absently fiddling with his new mechanical arm, which he was thinking about painting green.

Xephos shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “Maybe we'll go to the moon or something.”

“Invite me on that trip,” said Lalna.

“Why do you have to stay...?” asked Lomadia, trying to keep her voice from cracking. “Why can't you come with us?”

Lalna sighed a bit. “Some people can't actually leave this world,” he said. “I feel like I have to stay here and protect this world, and everyone in it.”

“We promise to come back and visit you,” said Honeydew. “We'll take you fishing or something.”

Lalna smiled a bit. “Yeah, that would be fun...”

They were all quiet for a few seconds. Suddenly, they all hugged him. He was a bit startled, but he welcomed it.

He knew it would be the last hug he got for a while.

They stayed that way until the sun fell below the horizon. Then they had to go.

They disappeared into the darkening night, Xephos with his arm around Lomadia and Honeydew walking by their side.

Lalna watched them disappear.

Numb, he returned inside and closed the gate. He knew it wouldn't be long before Xephos and Honeydew recruited him for some crazy project they were working on, but he would really miss them.

Now he was alone. He didn't even have Golem, because he had decided to stay at YogLabs after becoming friends with Bort.

He absently made his way to the top tower and found himself on the roof. He stared up at all the lights in the sky and wondered if he had made the right choice.

“You made the right choice,” a voice suddenly said beside him. He didn't even jump at the sudden appearance.

“Were you reading my mind again?” asked Lalna.

Ridge rolled his eyes and was quiet for a minute before speaking up.

“I'm leaving too,” he said.

This shocked Lalna. He whipped around to face him.

“What?!” he exclaimed.

“Not permanently,” said Ridge. “I'll be back and forth. I just want to keep a close eye on Xephos and see if he can control his power.”

Lalna nodded. “Right, Honeydew told me. You Changed him, didn't you?”

“Not on purpose,” said Ridge. He sighed. “Look, just... make sure you stay out of trouble, okay?”

Lalna raised an eyebrow. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sound like you actually care...”

“Don't make me regret it,” said Ridge.

Lalna went back to staring at the clear night sky. “So who else is staying?”

“Panda, Sjin, and Nano,” said Ridge.

Lalna glanced at him. “Yeah, and uh... what's Nano going to be doing...?”

“I think she said something about being an apprentice at Sjin's farm,” said Ridge with a shrug. “I doubt it'll last long before she ends up here.”

Lalna was glad that it was dark so Ridge didn't see him blushing.

“Anyways,” said Ridge with a sigh, “I better get going before they get too far ahead.”

“Stop by next time you're in town,” said Lalna. “We'll have a drink or something.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ridge smile, and then he was gone, leaving Lalna alone with nothing but his thoughts and all the lights in the sky to keep him company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, I really liked writing this chapter. This was the end of the original trilogy, Vengeance Stolen and Fallen. Luckily for you guys, there are a lot more stories in this series that I'll post soon. 
> 
> I just always get nostalgic about this chapter, because this was the first time I had ever actually finished a trilogy/series. Of course, I had no idea I'd keep expanding on the universe, but still... certain emotions stick.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys liked this story, I appreciate any feedback, and stick around, because I've got a whole slew of stories lined up and waiting to be posted. It'll be one hell of a ride.


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